Falling Apart While Falling Together
by HazelElle
Summary: Emily tries to deal with Serena being in the hospital by herself but Jayden comes to help. Serena's condition keeps changing and Jayden is there for Emily every time it does. Slowly it brings them closer but the rest of the group doesn't like it. Mia and Mike in particular. Drama breaks out within the team. Can Jayden and Emily make it or will they be torn apart?
1. The Beginning

**Hey there! This is my first ever story so I really hope you guys like it :) There will be several chapters to this story, just letting you know now. It's a Jayden/Emily story but being realistic, they're not just going to immediately fall in love, it's going to take a little so bear with me.**

**Disclaimer: I DO NOT own power Rangers Samurai or it's characters.**

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Jayden looked over at his clock. It was 2 in the morning. _Great._ He had to be up in a few hours for training and he didn't get any sleep. He lay there and just thought.

A door creeped open in the house. Jayden's head whipped to the side, trying to figure out who it was. A second later and the door closed. _Who else was up at this time? _He heard light footsteps pass his door and head to the kitchen. Light footsteps, it had to be one of the girls, Mia or Emily. He decided to go see who it was. It's not like he had anything better to do, sleep was not coming to him. He slowly got off his bed and opened the door, making sure to be as silent as possible. He walked through the hallway and into the kitchen where he found a small, blonde girl sitting, _Emily_. As he took another step towards her, he noticed her head was bent down with her hands covering her eyes. He heard small breaths. She was crying.

"Are you okay, Em?" He asked as gently as possible to not startle her. Emily's head snapped up as she gasped. There were tears covering her face, who knows how long she's been crying. As quickley as Jayden had noticed though, she rushed to wipe it all off and put on a big smile.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just came to get some water. What are you doing up?" She chimed, all cheery.

"I couldn't sleep... Em, you've been crying." He stated.

"What? No, I'm fine really. I was just about to go back to bed," Emily said and began walking towards the hallway but Jayden blocked her path. He looked down at her. Her eyes were red and her nose was puffy. He could tell she was torn under her fake smile.

"Emily, what's wrong?" He asked again. She looked up at him with that fake smile.

"Jayden, I'm fine. Please just let me go," she pleaded.

"Not until you tell me." He didn't mean to be so nosy but he didn't want one of his teammates hurting silently.

"Jayden, please just..." Emily's voice jumped. She felt as though she was about to crack, the tears were forming again already.

"Come on Em, you can talk to me," Jayden assured and did one of his signature smirks. Emily smiled for a glimpse, then it was gone. She began shaking her head.

"No, no I can't," her voice begining to break.

"Why can't you?" Jayden demanded, so clueless.

"Because! I'm tired of being the weak one on the team! Everyone has to help me, rescue me. I don't want that. That's why can't tell you! I don't want you or the team to feel bad for me. I'm not going to cry and be the weak one, not this time." It came out much harsher then Emily intended. She quickely regreted saying anything and began heading for the hall but once again Jayden stopped her. Her pulled her back to look her in the eye.

"Emily, stop. Don't do this. You can't keep this all buried in, trust me it only gets harder and harder. Tell me what's wrong. Let me help you." Emily paused but then shook her head and instead of heading to the hallway, she went outside to the practice area. Jayden followed. "I won't leave you alone until you tell me Emily. I won't let you do this to yourself." She kept walking. "Emily!" Jayden grabbed her by the arm and spun her around. "What happened?" She had no other choice but to tell him. She looked down.

"I got at call at around midnight. It was my mom." Jayden let go of her arm. This was bad. She looked up at him. "It's Serena. She had seizure and is now in the hospital," she burst, tears spilling out. "T-they s-said it was b-bad," she stuttered in between breaths. Jayden looked at her. There was so much sorrow in her eyes. This was Emily, the girl who cheered everyone up with a smile that never seemed to fade, standing infront of him, completely broken. Jayden winced, he couldn't bear seeing her so torn up. And then she gave him a look, a look that will always haunt him, "They don't think she's going to make it, Jayden." In that instant, he pulled her in and wrapped his arms around her as tightly as he could. She cried so hard, it shook him. He didn't know what to do. Suddenly, she pulled away to look at him.

"Please, please don't tell the others. I'm begging you, please Jayden," she managed to get out.

"I won't, I promise." Jayden assured her.

"Thank you," she replied, a tear rolling down her cheek.

"She's going to be okay, Em," he said. He took her hand and squeezed it. "She's going to be okay." Emily gave a half smile. "Are you planning to go see her?"

"I can't, we have to train. I'm already behind all of you, I need to practice." Emily said, more to pursude herself than Jayden.

"No you don't. You can take one day off. I'll ask mentor." Jayden insisted.

"No, I can't. I won't fall behind." Emily declared.

"Then at night, after training," he said.

"Jayden, I-I don't even know if I can take seeing her like that," Emily stuttered.

"I'll go with you. Emily, you'll be fine. You're going to go in there and see Serena's fine." He claimed.

"You'd do that? Why?" She was so confused.

"We're a team. We stick together and help one another. I'll be here as long as you need me. Rangers together, Samurai forever, remember?" He joked. She gave a quiet, little laugh.

"Right." With that he pulled her in to another hug. They stood like that for a while. He felt terrible for her. Emily was the youngest but had been through the most of them all.

Emily just stood there holding onto Jayden. She felt safe in his arms. He was the team's fearless leader and for a moment she felt like he could protect her from the sadness she felt swellling up inside of her. If only.

Little did they know, they were being watched.

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**What do you guys think so far? Make sure to let me know! I know the chapter was a bit boring but it gets waaay better, I just had to set the story up. Make sure to watch for the next chapter! :)**


	2. A Suspicious Team

"I swear!" Kevin barked.

"Swear what?" Mike asked as he walked in. Mia turned to Mike. His hair was all messy and he still looked sleepy.

"Well Kevin claims that he got up last night to get some water and saw Jayden and Emily outside in the practice area just standing and hugging for like hours," Mia explained. This spiked Mike's attention. Everyone knew Mike liked Emily, except for Emily herself though.

"It did happen!" Kevin exclaimed.

"I'm pretty sure Emily would tell me if something was going on between them," Mia declared.

"Nah, it's Jayden, come on. That dude can't take his mind off of training to rest much less to be with Emily, I mean think about it," Mike noted, not wanting to accept that Emily could be falling for another guy.

"Think what you want. I saw them and know it happened," Kevin announced.

"Sureeeeee," Mia dragged out. "We'll just have to see if they act weird. If so, something's definitely up. If not, well then we all get to punch Kevin," Mia said laughing.

"I'm totally cool with that. I-" Mike stopped. Jayden and Emily both walked in.

"Whoa, you two look exhusted. Did you get any sleep last night?" Mia asked, being sneaky. Emily turned wide-eyed and glanced at Jayden who immeadiately caught her glance and looked back at the others. It was quick but they all saw it.

"Couldn't sleep. Anyways, what's for breakfast?" Jayden asked. He dodged the question.

"Mentor made eggs. We just finished eating but there's still plenty left for you guys." Kevin chirped.

"Sweet," Jayden and they walked over to the counter. Emily pulled out a chair and sat down while Jayden got the plates. "Here you go," he handed the plate to Emily.

"Thanks Jay," she smiled. Mike didn't want to see this and stomped out. "Where's he going?" Emily asked.

"Uhh probably to train. Yeah, to train," Mia answered trying to think of an excuse. "Which reminds me, do you want to be my sparring partner today, Em?"

Emily took a big gulp. She wasn't sure she'd be able to take on a serious sparring session today but before she could answer Jayden interruped, "I already promised Emily I'd help her the next few days durning training." Emily felt relieved.

"Oh okay, maybe some other time," Mia said as she grabbed Kevin's arm an they walked out of the kitchen.

Once in the hallway Mia turned to Kevin. "Okay, you were definately right, there is so something going on."

"I told ya so," Kevin mused so Mia punched him in the arm.

"Ow!" Kevin exclaimed while they walked outside to go practice.

Soon enough, Jayden and Emily were done eating and joined the others. They sparred and Jayden went easy on Emily. Normally she'd complain but she really didn't think she was able to handle a proper fight right now. She began thinking about Serena and got lost in thought so she didn't even notice Jayden swing. Next thing she knew, she hit the ground.

"I'm so sorry Em. I didn't mean to," Jayden yelled as he ran to her. The others soon joined and were surrounding her.

"Are you okay, Em?" Mike asked worried.

"Yeah I'm fine, it's nothing really. Just a little fall," Emily told them.

"I'm sorry, Em," Jayden said, feeling terrible for hurting her.

"It's not your fault. I was being clumsy," Emily assured him. "I'm fine, let's continue on."

Slowly, everyone retreated back to their previous positions.

"What happened?" Jayden asked.

"Nothing, I just got lost in thought," Emily claimed. The both got back into their fighting stances.

"What were you thinking of?"

"Tonight," Emily beamed. Jayden smiled back widely. He loved it when Emily smiled like that, with so much joy.

At the same time Mike heard the conversation and thought they were talking about something completely different.

They finished their training and went inside, no Nighlock attacks today. Soon day turned into night. Jayden and Emily retreated to their bedrooms claiming to be tired while the rest of the gang was up playing a game.

"They're going out tonight," Mike stated, he was devastated.

"Are you sure?" Mia asked.

"Yeah," Mike groaned. They heard some shutters move. "There they go..."

They crept to the kitchen window just in time to see Jayden and Emily sneeking past the front gates.

"How could she not tell me?" Mia asked, getting mad. She always told Emily everything and would never keep a secret like this from her and to add on that, Mia liked Jayden a lot.

Kevin saw the look on Mia's face. "This is not going to come out well..." He stated.


	3. Sneaking Out

**Hey guys! Here's the new chapter! Thank you to all who have reviewed. So many and the story has just yet begun :P I hope you enjoy this chapter, it's got some cute/fluffy parts to it. I'll be updating/adding more chapters soon :)**

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Jayden quietly tip-toed over to Emily's room. He was extremely quiet as to not alert the others he was awake.

"Hey Em," Jayden whispered as he opened the door to her room. She was standing in the middle of her room and turned when she heard him. "Ready?"

"Yeah," she replied, taking in a deep breath.

"You got this Em," Jayden cheered. Emily lit up and walked over to him. They were careful to be as quiet as possible. They went out through the back door and circled out into the front, where they left through the front gate. Once out of the perimeter of the house, Emily sighed.

"You so thought we'd get caught, didn't you?" Jayden teased. Emily smiled.

"Did not," Emily declared. Jayden gave her a joking look. "Okay maybe I did!" she replied laughing. "I've never done anything like this before!" Emily defended. "What about you? I would have never taken you for one to sneak out."

"I'm not but this is a good reason to." Jayden said. Emily gave him a genuine smile.

"You're pretty awesome, you know that?" Emily laughed.

"So I've been told," Jayden joked. Emily looked at him. She had never seen this side of him. She'd only seen the side that trains hard and stays focused on the enemy but this side of him was so soft and caring and she for one, really liked it. He was different but she was enjoying the unfolding of this part of him.

Jayden took out the keys to the big SUV and unlocked the doors. They hopped in and he started the car. Slowly he backed out and began driving. Soon silence engulfed them. He glanced over at Emily, she was nervous. He needed to take her mind off of her sister for now.

"Let's play a game." Jayden broke the silence.

"Sure," Emily replied.

"Ask me a question, any question and I promise to answer it honestly," Jayden smirked. He knew Emily was a very curious person so she'd love this game.

"This sounds like fun!" Emily chirped. "Ok, lemme think..." Emily paused for a moment. "Oh, I got it! Would you rather eat Mia's spinach/raisin/peanut butter/onion/bean special or would you give up a day of training?" Emily asked. She smiled widely knowing this was a tough one for him.

"Oh come on! That's not even fair," Jayden laughed.

"Uh-uh, you promised to answer!" Emily teased. Jayden laughed.

"Okay, if I absolutely _had_ to choose, I'd eat Mia's special," Jayden said while making a vomiting face. Emily started laughing really hard.

"Oh my gosh, really?" Emily asked between breaths. Jayden just answered by laughing harder. He didn't remember the last time he laughed this much. Emily just brought that out in people.

"Okay, my turn," Jayden scoffed. "What's the most embarrasing thing you've done?" Emily looked at him.

"So not fair!" she exclaimed.

"And yours was?" Jayden laughed.

"Okay, maybe it wasn't the fairest question," Emily giggled. "Let's see... oh I remember. I was in the third grade and we were having a party in class to celebrate this guy's birthday. Brandon, was his name I think. Anyway, I really liked him and decided for his birthday I'd finally have an excuse to give him a hug. So I skipped over to him and right as I went to give him a hug, he scoots over to talk to some kid who had come up to talk to him. I ended up falling into the cupcakes they had brought and then the fruit punch spilled all over me." Emily explained.

"Wow," was all Jayden could manage. "That sounds terrible."

"It was. I seriously wouldn't go to school for a week," Emily noted.

"I hope you still got to talk to that guy afterwards, he must have felt horrible."

"He didn't. He just laughed. I never really had luck with guys," Emily babbled but immeadiately regreted saying. _Why did I just say that? Gosh, I'm such a dummy _she thought.

"What? You? Come on, you're Emily. You're bound to have had guys leaping for you," Jayden reassured her. Emily smiled a bit.

"Thanks but not really. I only ever had one boyfriend and he was only with me because of well... you know what high school guys go for," Emily said and put her head down a bit. Jayden now felt terriblefor bringing it all up in the first place. Emily looked up at him. She knew he was beating himself up for saying anything now. She decided to lighten things up again.

"So what about you? Any girlfriends you had behind mentors back that I should know of?" Emily teased. Jayden laughed, glad the mood was up again.

"No, I always stayed loyal to my training," Jayden stated in a matter-of-fact way.

"So you've never had a girlfriend?" she asked, shocked.

"Nope," Jayden replied.

"Well we gotta change that," Emily smiled. "Next time we go in town, I'm setting out to find you a girl," Emily said, determined.

"Em, it's fine. I really can't have distractions, I need to focus on my training," Jayden said.

"Love is not a 'distraction' Jayden. Trust me, once you find it, it will consume you and all you'll feel is a warm, jittery feeling when you're with that special someone. Promise me that when you find it, you'll never let it go, not even for training. It only comes once in a lifetime," Emily said softly.

Jayden looked at Emily. She was looking up at him, with this light in her eyes. She sure was something different. He'd never let anything get in the way of his training but for Emily in this moment, he'd lie or do anything to keep her smiling. "I promise." Emily was content.

"Hey, look! We're here," Emily exclaimed pointing at the hospital. Jayden found a spot and parked the car. They got out and slowly walked to the entrance. Right before they walked into the hospital, Emily stopped. Jayden looked back at her. She was nervous again. He walked over to her.

"Em, you'll be fine. Come on, Serena's inside waiting for you," Jayden reassured her. Emily gave him a hopeful smile and took a deep breath. They slowly walked in. As soon as they did, they noticed an old lady, probably in her 60's or 70's, eyeing Jayden.

"Well there's a possibility," Emily giggled. The old lady winked at Jayden. "Oh she's soooo into you!" Emily teased. Jayden chuckled.

"Could I possibly find someone at least 20 years within my age range?" Jayden joked as they walked off to the elevator laughing.


	4. Smiles and Lies

"Oh God." Emily's heart dropped. She and Jayden had just arrived at Serena's hospital room and through the window, they could see Serena. She had several tubes coming out of her arms and her face had a ghostly shade to it. "No, no, no, no, I can't do this." Emily started walking away.

"Hey," Jayden caught her arm. He pulled her in and cupped her face, his thumbs grazing her cheeks. He had never done that to anyone before and didn't know whether it was appropriate or not but he didn't care, he had to help Emily out. "You can do this, Em. You're stronger than you think."

Emily looked up at him. He was so brave, so strong and in that second it felt as if some of his strength flowed into her. She began nodding her head. "I can do this," she whispered. Jayden smiled at her and slowly lowered his hands. He moved so that they were side to side and facing the door to Serena's room.

"Now get in there, Serena's waiting for you," he chuckled and bumped her shoulder lightly. Emily smiled widely up at him. Never in a million years would she have thought Jayden would be the one here with her when tragedy struck but in this moment she wouldn't want it to be anyone else.

"Serena?" Emily called as they entered the room. Serena turned around.

"Emily!" She cried out. Emily ran to her and gave her a hug. It felt so good to see Serena again, she missed her. Jayden stood by the door as to not interrupt the moment. Jayden had never actually met Serena, only heard of her from Mentor and Emily. Serena was older than him but only by a few years and Emily resembled her a lot.

"How are you? Are you okay? Have they been treating you alright?" Emily began the questioning.

"I'm fine, Emily. I'm fine," Serena laughed and gave Emily a kiss on her forehead. Emily felt relieved, it was same old Serena, just how she loved her.

"I was so worried," Emily said giving her sister another hug. Serena smiled and stroked Emily's hair. "What did the doctors say?"

"They said it wasn't that big of a deal and I should be better than ever soon," Serena replied. Emily's face lit up.

"That's amazing!" Emily exclaimed and hugged her sister yet again. It was then that Serena noticed Jayden standing at the door. She pulled away from Emily.

"And who would this be?" Serena asked. Emily ran over, grabbed Jayden by the arm and pulled him over to the bed.

"This is Jayden, he's the red ranger," Emily chirped.

"Hey," Jayden smiled, a little shy.

"Hey. It's nice to finally meet you red ranger," Serena said and held out her hand. Jayden shook it, making sure to be gentle.

"It's nice to finally meet you too. Emily talks about you a lot," Jayden smirked at Emily. Emily smiled back.

"Same for you," Serena replied. "Emily sends me e-mails talking about the team and being a samurai. You're always captioned as the 'fearless leader'." Jayden turned to look at Emily again. She was blushing a bright shade of pink. _Is that really how she thought of him? "The fearless leader"? _Jayden asked himself.

"Well I don't know about that," he laughed.

This went on for about an hour or so. Emily and Serena talked and talked with Jayden chirping in every once in a while but for the most part, giving them time to be together.

"So I hear the hospital food here is terrible," Emily said about an hour later.

"Oh, it is. It's tasteless for the most part but what if it isn't tasteless, is really bad," Serena said, making a grossed out face. Both Emily and Jayden laughed.

"Do you want us to grab you something to eat from the café?" Emily giggled.

"I would love you forever if you did," Serena laughed. "But let Jayden stay. I'm curious to know more about the mighty red ranger," Serena mused. Jayden was a little shocked that Serena wanted to talk to him alone. Emily was too but soon realized it would be fun for Serena and Jayden to get closer.

"Okay then, I'll be right back. The café is only a minute away," Emily sang as she headed out. Jayden looked after her. She was too adorable when she was super happy. Once Emily was out of sight though, Serena's smile dropped. Jayden started worrying and thought Serena might be feeling bad.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"No," she replied. "and I won't be anytime soon." Jayden was confused but soon enough realized what she meant.

"The doctors didn't say you'd be alright, did they?" He asked. Serena looked down and started pulling at her fingers.

"They told me my condition is getting worse and my chances of making it much longer are very slim." Serena said as her eyes started watering.

"I'm so sorry," Jayden said, not knowing what else to do. "But Emily… you told her you were alright, why?"

"Because I knew if I told her the truth, it'd break her. Emily's never had anything steady her in life but me. Our parents were always in and out of the picture, she was too shy to make friends when she wasn't being teased, and as for boyfriends, well they never treated her right. I was her anchor, bringing her back for as long as I can remember and I don't want to imagine what'll happen to her after I go," Serena explained. "She has a good heart, Jayden. That's what hurts her the most though. She lets everyone in and genuinely believes everyone has good intentions, but we both know that's not true. She needs someone to help her, to protect her and as much as I want that to be me, I might not be around much longer," Serena stopped to wipe her eyes.

"Then, I'll do it. I'll help her," Jayden said, not hesitating for a second. Serena put her hand on his cheek.

"Thank you." She whispered. "If there was ever a thing I wanted, it was to keep Emily safe."

"She'll be safe with me, I promise. I won't let anyone hurt her," he said reassuring Serena.

"Thank you, thank you," Serena kept muttering until she was sobbing. Even though Jayden didn't know her he still went over and gave her a hug. Just like Emily, she was selfless, putting others before herself.

"You're brave you know, you deserve the title of fearless, not me," Jayden said as he pulled away. Serena smiled a bit.

"I've known for years that my time could come at any moment and I've learned to embrace it. I'm not scared anymore, I'm ready for it when it comes," Serena said as she cleared her face of any tears. "The only thing I was worried about was Emily and what would happen to her. She's in good hands now though," Serena said smiling at him. Jayden gave her a little smile back. _Emily,_ he thought. _This is going to devastate her when the time comes. _As if she knew he was thinking of her, Emily walked into the room.

"I'm back," she chirped. Serena had wiped away any sign of sadness and was back to her happy self.

"Mmm, that smells delicious!" Serena said.

"Sure does," Emily replied, handing Serena the tray. She glanced at Jayden and he managed to smile back. He looked down at his watch, it was late.

"Hey Em, we should probably be heading home," Jaden piped. Emily looked at her samurizer.

"Wow, it is late. We should get going," Emily said. She walked over and kissed Serena on the forehead. "I'll be back soon." With that Jayden and Emily left and were heading back to the elevator. Emily was practically skipping in joy. Jayden just looked at her. _She has no idea_, he thought. This was going to hurt her so much. He remembered his promise to Serena though. When the time came, he'd be there for her. From this moment on Jayden would always be there for Emily, as long as she needed him.

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**What did you guys think of this chapter? Make sure to let me know!**


	5. A Jealous Mia

It was around 2 in the afternoon and the rangers were outside training and sparring. Mia looked around. Everything was perfect… then there was Emily. Jayden, Emily, and Mike were doing a 2 on 1 training but that's not what it looked like. It seemed more like Emily flirting with the two guys. Emily was being her clumsy self and missing a few moves and the guys took it to themselves to go easy on Emily. She'd randomly erupt into giggles, like she always does being her bubbly, little self, and the boys would stop for a second to laugh with her and then go all love-dazed. _Ugh_, Mia thought. _Why can't they see that Emily was playing them both?_ Mia hated that Emily got off so easy. Usually Jayden would push Emily to train harder but lately he'd gotten soft and went easy. It wasn't fair, Emily should be shown what real training was. Mia smiled and who else better to do it then Mia herself? She headed towards the trio.

Emily struck at Jayden. Of course though, he dodged and she missed.

"You're impossible to beat!" Emily exclaimed. She tried to land another hit on him but failed once again.

"Try harder," Jayden laughed. Emily glared at him. This time she tried to hit Mike. Missed.

"I give up," Emily wailed, throwing her hands up. She had had enough. She was really trying hard but couldn't manage to hit either Jayden or Mike. It wasn't all that bad though. Jayden had seemed to loosen up a lot all of a sudden and they had spent most of practice laughing and just having fun. It was exactly what Emily needed. A fun day.

"Come on, Em. We just got started!" Mike laughed. Emily gave both boys the death glare. Jayden and Mike both tried to keep serious faces but it was Emily giving them the glare. She could never be scary. After lasting about five seconds they both burst out into laughter. Emily tried to keep up her glare but soon she too cracked and started laughing. Mike went over to Emily and gave her a side hug.

"Let's try again," he smiled at her. She smiled brightly back. At first Mike didn't want to join Jayden and Emily for training when they offered, being as he was still mad that they might be "secretly dating" and Mike had a crush on Emily but as they practiced, Mike noticed that there was nothing romantic going on between the two. They acted more like two best friends than lovers. Mike had pulled many flirty moves on Emily and Jayden did nothing. It didn't bother him in the least. He just seemed happy that Emily was happy. They got back into their fighting stances. Emily ran towards Mike but right as she was about to strike him, he lowered his stick and knelt over laughing. Emily was so confused until she turned around to see Jayden making faces.

"Oh come on," Emily giggled, playfully shoving Jayden. Jayden looked down at Emily, she was laughing so hard. _This is what she needs_, he thought. He was going to make sure Emily still had fun even with all her worrying of Serena. Mike looked up just in time to see Jayden staring at Emily. _Uh-oh. That seems like more than a "friendly" look,_ Mike thought. Just in time to interrupt it though was Mia.

"Hey guys," she called.

"Hey," they all called back.

"So, I was wondering if I could borrow Emily? We haven't gotten to spar together in so long and I learned some new moves and I want to show you first!" Mia exclaimed. Jayden looked at Emily, wondering whether he needed to interject like last time but Emily gave him a reassuring look.

"Sure, it's not like I'm having any luck with these two," Emily joked. They all had a little laugh and Emily went off with Mia. Jayden and Mike started sparring as Mia and Emily took their stances.

"So, I feel like we haven't talked in forever," Mia remarked as she leaped for Emily. Emily managed to block her hit but barely, Mia had hit pretty hard.

"Yeah, I guess we haven't," Emily replied striking Mia. The hit was pretty soft so it gave Mia the chance to catch Emily off guard during it and hit her really hard in her side. Emily gasped, it hurt a lot. Mia turned, seeming not to have realized how hard she'd hit Emily. _Why is she hitting so hard? _ Raced through Emily's mind. After a second it came to her that maybe Emily had just gotten used to Jayden going easy on her the last couple days so when Mia was actually sparring to full strength it seemed rough to Emily.

"So anything new with you?" Mia asked landing another hard blow, this time on Emily's thigh.

"No, not much. You?" Emily asked just before Mia slashed her leg. It took everything for Emily not to fall over. Emily found an open hit and got Mia but lightly which again gave Mia the opportunity to hit Emily's back hard.

"Not much either. Just wondering. You know, best friends tell each other everything," Mia smiled and struck Emily again, this time on her shoulder. Emily gasped again. She definitely was not ready to spar full on yet.

"Yeah, I know what you mean," Emily mumbled barely getting words out. This is how the rest of practice went. Emily would get Mia but too softly, giving Mia the opportunity to land many blows all over Emily. She was so sore, so when Mia struck Emily in the stomach, Emily hurdled over and fell. The guys came rushing over.

"Whoa Em, you do not look good. Are you okay?" Antonio asked. Jayden looked down at her worried. She looked like she was in a lot of pain.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Mia's just gotten way better," Emily shook it off as if it were nothing. Mia looked down at Emily worried. She had overdone it. She should have never hit Emily so hard. What was she thinking? And Emily being Emily of course took the fault.

"Em, I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to hit you so hard!" Mia stammered.

"It's fine, really," Emily said as she tried to pull herself up. In a heartbeat, Jayden took one of her hands and Mike took the other. They locked eyes for a moment. "All good," Emily smiled, not realizing what was happening. Mia looked from Mike to Jayden and a smiling Emily then remembered why she had hit Emily so hard. She started walking towards the house, followed my Kevin and Antonio.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Jayden asked.

"You really don't look well," Mike added in. Emily sprung away from both of their hands.

"You guys, I'm fine, really," Emily stated. She smiled and both of them lightened up. The three of them walked into the Shiba house. They all headed to their own rooms to change. Emily began to change when she noticed all of the bruises and welts. So it wasn't just her, Mia really was hitting way too hard and Emily had this gut feeling like Mia was really mad at her. She glanced at the bruises. They were everywhere. _Great. So wearing a dress or anything cute is out of the picture._ She settled for some jeans and a nice shirt with a bit longer sleeves. Just as she exited her room, she bumped into Jayden.

"Hey," Emily greeted.

"Hey," Jayden replied. He took a long look at her. "You're not wearing a dress, a skirt, or anything yellow. Something's up," Jayden joked. Emily laughed, she didn't think he ever even noticed what she wore.

"I just felt like kicking back," Emily replied. She then assessed what Jayden was wearing and wow did he look good. This gave Emily an idea. "Hey, would you mind going to the store with me?" she asked.

"Uh sure. What for though?" Jayden asked. Emily froze. _Crap. Think, Emily, think._

"Well, I wanted to cook dinner tonight and thought I'd pick up some ingredients," Emily stammered out.

"But you've never cooked before," Jayden noted.

"Okay then. We'll let Mia cook dinner tonight," Emily called put as she began walking away.

"Hey, wait!" Jayden caught up to Emily. "To the store it is then." They both started laughing.

"To the store it is," Emily repeated. Jayden grabbed the car keys from the kitchen and they headed towards the front door. They passed Kevin, Mia, and Mike, who were hanging out in the living room.

"Hey, where are you guys going?" Kevin called out.

"Emily's cooking dinner tonight," Jayden replied. Mike and Kevin gave them a confused look. Jayden just shrugged. "I told her I'd go with her to the store to get some stuff."

"Oh, okay," Kevin answered and went back to his book. Mike gave them a wary look and Jayden noticed it.

"Let's go then," Emily sang and headed out. Jayden gave Mike one last glance and followed her.

As soon as they were out of earshot Mia remarked," Sure, they are totally going 'food shopping'." She was obviously pissed.

"Yo, what's up with you?" Mike asked.

"What's up with me is that first Emily, who is supposed to be my best friend, lies to me about sneaking around with Jayden, then she tries to take my spot as the cook. I mean I go out food shopping and take Jayden with me, she knows that and is trying to be better than me and replace me," Mia fumed.

"I really don't think that's what she's trying to do. You're being a bit dramatic," Kevin stated.

"I am not. And what about you?" Mia said looking at Mike. "Why aren't you mad that Jayden and Emily are going off again? I thought you liked her. And what was that at practice today? She was toying with both of you guys and you both acted like idiots and laughed with her. She and Jayden are sneaking off and yet she's still messing around with you, doesn't that bother you?" Mike looked at her like she was crazy.

"Okay, first of all, girl you need to calm down. There is nothing going on between Jayden and Emily, I can tell. Plus, I pulled plenty of moves on Emily and Jayden didn't even seem to care. They're just good friends and next, Emily wasn't 'toying' with us. She was trying to practice while Jayden and I goofed off. You need to get those eyes checked, I do not understand how you saw it as that," Mike responded. Mia looked at Mike. Emily had him so fooled. Heck, she had everyone fooled but not Mia. Oh no, Mia saw what she was really doing and she planned on stopping Emily, whatever it takes.

* * *

**Thank you to all who reviewed the last chapter! I'm glad you guys enjoyed it! Please keep reviewing, I love hearing from you guys! And make sure to stay tuned. Some really cute Jayden/Emily fluff coming up soon **


	6. Shopping Set Up

"These look pretty good," Jayden noted as they passed some apples.

"They do," Emily said picking out a handful of them. She scanned the store for people. Jayden took notice of this.

"Are you looking for someone in particular?" Jayden teased. Emily looked up at him.

"Yeah I am and I think I might have found her," Emily said. Jayden gave her a confused look.

"And who's 'her', exactly?" Jayden asked.

"You'll see," Emily smiled. They kept walking up and down the aisles, collecting food as they went.

"But blueberry is sooooo much better!" Emily whined.

"Nu-uh. Strawberry waffles are the best," Jayden stated. Emily pouted her lip out at him, giving him the puppy dog eyes. Jayden just mimicked her expression.

"Fine, we'll just get both," Emily giggled and Jayden laughed with her. Shopping with Emily was a lot more fun than shopping with Mia. Emily just seemed to brighten up the place and he just felt more comfortable with Emily. Had it been Mia, he probably would have just let her get the blueberry waffles and not said anything, otherwise it would have just gotten awkward. With Emily though, he felt like he could be more himself. Emily was having a great time too. Had she known Jayden was this much fun while shopping, she would have offered to go all the time.

"Oh yay, ice-cream!" Emily called out. She turned to Jayden. "Cookie dough?"

"Sherbet," he stated.

"Oh, you are so doing that on purpose now!" Emily bumped Jayden's shoulder and they both laughed.

"I love cookie dough," Jayden smiled. Emily giggled; this was too much fun. A tall, brunette walked by them. She was thin, had long, sleek hair and was overall just really pretty. Emily touched her arm to stop her.

"Hey, Allie," Emily greeted. Allie was a friend of Serena's that would always come over. She was a really nice girl and would suit Jayden perfectly.

"Emily?" Allie asked, disbelievingly.

"The one and only," Emily smiled back.

"I haven't seen you in so long! You look so different now!" Allie exclaimed and gave Emily a soft hug. "How are you?"

"I've been better," Emily stated. "How about you?"

"I've been good. I just got back from visiting Serena. How are you holding up with all of that?" Allie asked, a bit worried.

"It's hard but Jayden's been helping me," Emily said, pulling Jayden into the conversation. Jayden stood there not knowing what exactly to do. Allie looked over at him and she instantly turned to get a better look. _She is definitely interested, _Emily thought. "Allie this is Jayden and Jayden this is Allie," Emily introduced them. Jayden held out his hand.

"It's nice to meet you," He said. She shook his hand.

"It's nice to meet you too," Allie said all flirtatiously. Jayden smiled. Emily's idea had worked.

"Oh gosh, Jayden. We totally forgot to get ketchup!" Emily blurted out. "I'm so sorry," Emily apologized to Allie. "I'll be right back! Here, Jayden will keep you company. He's a real funny one," Emily joked as she started walking away. Jayden looked at her confused. They had more than enough ketchup at home, why was she getting more? And then it dawned on him. She didn't really need ketchup. She had just tricked him into talking alone with Allie. Oh Emily, he was going to get her back for this.

"You gotta love Emily," Allie said looking after her. She turned to Jayden. "Are you two together… or?"

"No, we're just good friends," Jayden cleared up. Allie smiled wider as did Jayden.

Emily got to the end of the aisle. Jayden was going to kill her for this but she promised to find him a girl, and she'd keep it. Plus, it was Allie. She was perfect in every way. How could Jayden not like her? Emily turned to peer back into the aisle. Allie had struck up a conversation with Jayden. She was obviously flirting. Jayden seemed awkward at first but soon loosened up a bit. Allie was talking now and Jayden was just looking at her smiling. Emily felt a deep pit form in her stomach. She didn't know why though. It just bothered her that Jayden was suddenly opening up to someone else. _Oh, stop. You're being way too silly Emily, _she thought. _This is Jayden's moment; be happy for him. _ She put her smile back on and ran to go find some ketchup. After finally finding some ketchup Emily headed back. She walked into the aisle to see Allie and Jayden still flirting.

"Hey there," Emily called out.

"Hey," Allie called back. Emily avoided looking a Jayden, knowing her was probably giving her the death glare right about now.

"Sorry 'bout that again. I hope Jayden kept you entertained," Emily smiled.

"Sure did. You were right, he is a funny one," Allie said and flirtatiously winked at Jayden.

"Well that's good then," Emily remarked. Allie smiled. Jayden looked down at his samuraizer.

"Em, it's 4," Jayden noted.

"Really? Ah, we have so much more stuff to get and fast," Emily panicked.

"Well you guys go ahead and get the rest of your stuff, I need to be going soon too," Allie said.

"Okay, it was really good seeing you again Allie,' Emily said.

"It was good seeing you too and good to meet you, Jayden," Allie flirted. They started walking their ways.

"I'm going to kill you for this. That was so not cool!" Jayden laughed. Emily laughed too with him.

"So? How'd it go?" Emily asked, all excited.

"It went fine but I just wasn't interested," Jayden said simply. Emily looked at him like he was crazy.

"What? It's Allie! What's not to love about her?" Emily asked.

"Oh no, don't get me wrong, she's great and all but… I don't know. I just wasn't feeling it," Jayden shrugged. Emily looked at him incredulously.

"You're crazy," she laughed. He looked down at her.

"No, you're the crazy one. I still can't believe you left me there alone with her!" Jayden exclaimed. Emily giggled.

"I was just trying to help out. I told you I'd find you a girl, remember?" Emily reminded him.

"So that's why you wanted to go to the store?" Jayden asked.

"Maybe..." Emily teased. Jayden laughed.

"I told you, I don't want a girlfriend. I need to focus on training," Jayden said.

"Not that again. Jayden, I will find you a girl. I said I would and I will," Emily replied. Jayden rolled his eyes.

"Stop worrying about me Em." Jayden picked out some bread and put it in the cart. "What about you?"

"What do you mean?" Emily asked as she looked through the pastries.

"I'm talking about Mike," Jayden stated. Emily looked up at him confused.

"What about him?"

"Em, he really, really likes you," Jayden confessed. Emily honestly looked like she had no idea.

"What? Really?" Emily made sure she had heard him right. Could Mike really like her?

"Yeah. Have you seriously not noticed?" Jayden asked, amused.

"No, not really," Emily noted. "Are you sure? I mean it's Mike and well… I'm me."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Jayden inquired.

"Well Mike is funny and really nice and for most girls the perfect guy. I don't understand why he'd settle for me, you know?" Emily replied as if it meant nothing and went to pick out some more stuff.

"You're kidding, right?" Jayden asked. _She was kidding, right? _

"No," Emily simply said and looked up at Jayden. "I just don't think I'm the kind of girl for him. He's funny and jokes around a lot and loves to do crazy things. I'm none of those. I just feel like I'd hold him down," Emily brushed off. Jayden stared at her. He couldn't believe that's what Emily thought and the way she brushed it off like it was nothing gave him a feeling like this was what she truly did believe.

"Em, you can't seriously think that's true."

"I do, I'm just not the kind of girl for anyone right now. I'm unstable and I just want Mike to find someone better."

"Someone better? Emily, I don't think there's anyone 'better'. You _are_ fun and crazy and just make everyone happy when you're around. Take it from me, the most boring person on the team," Jayden joked.

"You're not boring. You just need to loosen up sometimes, like at practice earlier. That was definitely not boring," Emily laughed. "I think you're just being silly. Mike doesn't really like me." Emily called out as she went to the check-out lane. Jayden caught up to her. _Emily was crazy. Mike really did like her. How could she think she was not enough for him? She was more than enough. Mike would be really lucky to have her. Heck, anyone would. Emily's pretty awesome._

* * *

**Get ready! Some Jemily cuteness coming next chapter.**


	7. Invites and Fights

"Yo, a letter just arrived," Mike announced, walking into the living room where everyone was hanging out. Everyone except Jayden and Emily, that is. They were still out shopping. Antonio turned around.

"A letter?" He asked.

"I know right, old school bro," Mike replied.

"What does it say?" Mia asked curiously.

"It just says 'Shiba House' on the cover," Mike handed her the envelope.

"Weird," Kevin pitched in. Mia quickly opened it up and read it.

"Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh, oh my gosh!" Mia started yelling and jumping around.

"What? What is it?" Mike asked. Mia looked at him, a big smile on her face.

"We have been formally invited to a masquerade ball! The town's having one and invited us all!" Mia screamed in happiness.

"And here we go…" Kevin said as the boys prepared themselves.

"Oh my gosh, I need to get a dress! Oh and some new shoes! Do you guys think I should go in pink? Or no, maybe purple? I can't decide. Oh and I need jewelry!" Mia went on and on.

"Really? You had to give her the letter now?" Kevin scolded Mike. Just then Jayden and Emily walked in carrying a bunch of bags. The guys quickly leapt to their feet to go help them. Emily looked at Mia.

"Mia! You look so happy. What happened?" Emily smiled. Even though Mia was mad at Emily, she couldn't help herself.

"We just got invited to a masquerade ball!" Mia beamed.

"What? That's awesome! You know what that means?" Emily asked.

"Dress shopping!" They said in unison. The guys rolled their eyes but laughed at the girls' excitement.

"We are not going to hear the end of this," Jayden chuckled.

"I hear you, bro," Mike laughed. They took everything into the kitchen, and put it out on the table. "Sweet! Cupcakes!" Emily laughed, she knew Mike loved cupcakes. He opened the pack and everyone took one, except Jayden. She looked over at him. He was smiling but so uptight. Emily had an idea. She took one of the cupcakes out.

"Jayden, sometimes you need to loosen up and just have fun," Emily claimed. Everyone nodded their heads.

"I am having fun," Jayden defended.

"No, I mean real fun. Like go craaaazy," Emily said and with that she mushed the cupcake into Jayden's face. Everyone froze. They could not believe she had just done that. Emily just giggled.

"You're right Emily. Some people need to quit being so wound up and just enjoy life," Kevin said and went towards Mia with a cupcake.

"Oh no. Don't you even dare! Kevin!" Mia screamed as she ran. Everyone started laughing. Kevin finally caught up to Mia and mushed the cupcake in her. Emily laughed and turned back to Jayden. While she wasn't paying attention, he had managed to get a tomato off the table.

"Don't. Even. _Think_. About it," Emily warned him. Jayden swung the tomato and it hit Emily's shoulder and splattered all over her. "Jayden!" she laughed. Soon enough it turned into a full out food fight. They took to teams of three. Mike, Emily, and Antonio vs. Jayden, Mia, and Kevin. Everything in the kitchen became ammo and the table and chairs were shields. This was the most fun they had had in months. Jayden saw Emily and ambushed her with blueberries but Mike came to her rescue with blackberries. Mike settled down behind the table with Emily. Emily took one of the blueberries and mouthed 'Yum'. Mike laughed. He put his hand on Emily's cheek, their faces inches away. Jayden had called Kevin to come ambush both Mike and Emily with him. They rounded to corner of the table to find Mike and Emily about to kiss. Jayden froze. Kevin went on to throw the blueberries at them. They quickly retaliated and began throwing the blackberries. Jayden and Kevin ran back.

"What was that? You totally froze on me!" Kevin joked.

"I-I don't know. Just caught up in the moment I guess," Jayden mumbled. _Why had he frozen? Why did the sight of Mike and Emily bother him? _Kevin brought him back to reality.

"I think we could get them from the left," Kevin plotted.

"Yeah, that could work," Jayden said, back in the game. They grabbed some more food. Jayden grabbed a can of whip cream Mia had just put down. Just as they planned, they ambushed them from the left. Kevin chased Mike out into the middle of the kitchen. He had a feeling Kevin was getting Mike back for all of the times Mike had messed with him. Jayden laughed, then looked at Emily who had begun to throw blackberries at him. He quickly started spraying the whip cream all over her. She screamed and started running. Jayden chased her out of the kitchen and into the hallway. Just as she rounded the corner, he caught her by the waist and turned her around. He pointed the whip cream can down at her. She just laughed. She put her hands on his shoulders, near his neck trying to push him away. He was literally leaning over her, holding her back so she wouldn't fall. Emily kept backing lower thinking it'd help.

"Any last words?" He joked.

"Tell my teddy bear, I loved him," Emily said dramatically and laughed. Jayden couldn't help but laugh too. He pressed his finger to the nozzle of the can but nothing came out. _It was out. _Emily started laughing harder under him.

"I cannot believe you just ran out!" She shouted, laughing even harder. Jayden burst out into laughter.

"Just perfect," he called. Jayden dropped the can and let go of her back. She stood back up in an upright position. They both settled down a bit but couldn't help but smile and crack a little laugh. Jayden then noticed Emily still had her arms on his shoulders, their faces so close.

"MIKE!" They heard Kevin scream as footsteps ran toward them. They quickly separated just in time as Mike ran passed them with Kevin in pursuit.

"Why aren't you getting her? She's the enemy!" Kevin yelled playfully. Jayden lifted up the can.

"I ran out," he laughed. Kevin laughed back at him and went after Mike. Jayden looked back at Emily.

"You ran out of ammo, but I didn't!" Emily called out and started throwing blackberries at him. Jayden smiled and started running from her ambush. He ran into the kitchen and right into Mentor. Emily followed and bumped into his back. They looked around. Kevin, Mia, Mike, and Antonio were all lined up with scared looks on their faces and Mentor was hovering over Jayden and Emily with an angry one.

"The brooms and mops are in the closet in the hallway. I want this place clean before you all go to bed tonight," Mentor announced and walked out. As soon as he was gone they all started laughing.

"Best dinner ever, Emily," Mike joked and smiled at her. Jayden noticed and looked at Emily.

"Sure was," Emily mumbled and looked at Jayden.


	8. Sing, Panic, Sleep

Emily looked in the mirror. She pulled all of her hair to her right side to reveal a deep red welt forming on her shoulder, just shy of her neck. Yet another day of training with Mia. The welts had begun swelling and with Mia hitting her in the same spots, some bruises were turning black. It was getting really bad. She needed to confront Mia about this but for some reason she couldn't bring herself to do it. Even so though, she couldn't handle another day. She thought about telling Jayden but she didn't want to make a big deal out of it if Mia really didn't mean it. She heard a knock at the door. Emily checked her samuraizer. It had to be Jayden. They were going out to go see Serena again. She opened the door and sure enough, it was Jayden.

"Hey Em, Are you ready?" Jayden asked. He then noticed the bruise on her neck. Emily caught his look and quickly covered it up with her hair. Jayden wanted to ask but didn't want to invade on her personal business so he let it go. When Emily was ready, she'd tell him.

"I'm all good to go," she claimed. They quietly walked out, as to not disturb anyone. They had gotten out without anyone noticing and were now in the car, driving to the hospital.

"So, are you excited for the masquerade ball?" Jayden asked, making conversation.

"You know I am! I love dances!" Emily exclaimed. She was so happy.

"Have you found a dress yet?" Jayden asked. He had sat through what seemed like hours of Mia talking about possible dresses for the ball.

"No, not yet. I've been meaning to go get a dress with Mia but I feel like she's ignoring me. I don't know why though," Emily noted. Jayden had noticed Mia's strange behavior too.

"I think she's just going through a phase. She'll be back to normal in no time," Jayden assured her.

"Yeah, you're probably right," Emily stated. She still couldn't help but wonder why Mia was being so mean. She snapped out of it. "So what's new with you?"

"Not much, really. While you were practicing with Mia today though, I got to watch Kevin chase Mike around for about an hour. It was pretty funny," Jayden laughed.

"Aww, did I really miss that?" Emily whined.

"Believe me, those two are not going to stop going at it anytime soon. You'll see them plenty more times." They both laughed. A new song came on the station and Emily remembered it was one of Jayden's favorite songs.

"Jayden, you love this song!" Emily remarked and raised the volume. She began singing aloud with the song. "Come on! I know you want to!" Emily yelled while singing. Jayden shook his head.

"You're crazy," he shouted over the music. Emily smiled at him and kept singing.

"Come on!" Emily yelled again. She started swaying. Jayden looked over at her. She was sitting there singing at the top of her lungs and just having fun. He couldn't help but smile at her. He didn't know why but he just wanted to capture this moment in his mind. How perfect it was. Emily being herself, carefree and having fun. She gave him a small nudge on his shoulder, bringing him back to reality. "Come on!" she repeated. Jayden caved in and started singing with her. Emily beamed when he finally gave in. They half sang, half laughed. Well, mostly laughed. They were both having the time of their lives.

"Wha-hooooo!" Emily yelled as the song broke into just instrumental. She lifted her arms in the air. Jayden laughed. Emily looked at him and smiled wider. She had never seen him laugh this much.

"You're out of your mind!" He laughed. Emily smiled and went back to moving her arms to the beat. Jayden looked over just as Emily's sweater lowered a little, revealing another bruise on her other shoulder, but this one was bigger. Jayden lowered the volume. Emily turned to see what happened. "What's that on your shoulder?" he asked trying to be stern but glancing at the road as he drove. Emily looked and realized another one of her bruises was showing. She quickly moved her sweater back to cover it up.

"It's nothing, really," Emily replied.

"Em, that's not nothing. It looks pretty swollen. You have another one on your other shoulder. What happened?"

"Nothing, I just fell," Emily stammered.

"Fell on what? Em, those look like someone hit you," Jayden accused. He glanced over at her.

"No one hit me. Jayden, I'm fine. They're nothing. They'll be gone in a few days," Emily responded.

"Emily, tell me the truth."

"Jayden, it's nothing. Leave it alone!" Emily had raised her voice. Jayden went silent and looked at the road. "Jayden. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to yell at you. I'm just frustrated. I'm so sorry." Jayden looked at her.

"It's fine Em. But when you do decide to talk about it, I'm here okay?" Jayden encouraged her.

"Okay," she looked back at him. She really didn't want to get Mia in trouble but knew she wouldn't be able to lie to him much longer. Jayden wasn't one to just drop things like this. Just in time though, they arrived at the hospital.

They walked to the elevator and to Serena's room in silence. Emily slowly opened the door and entered Serena's room. She took in a deep breath and turned around to face Jayden. He looked at her confused. Her eyes were big and she looked like she was about to freak out. Jayden glanced over at a sleeping Serena. She had more tubes in now and she was much paler. Her skin was like a ghost's and her lips a dark blue. Jayden quickly took Emily back out into the hall and softly shut the door, as to not wake Serena.

"Oh my God," Emily said as she started pacing back and forth. She was breathing heavily, gasping for air. "She's supposed to be getting better," Emily whispered. "Why isn't she getting better?" Emily shouted. She was breathing even heavier now, barley getting any air. She was having a panic attack. "Why is she getting worse," Emily yelled again. A couple nurses turned to look at them. Jayden quickly took hand of Emily's arms.

"Emily," He started but she turned away. Jayden pulled her back. "Emily, look at me." Emily looked up at him. She was inhaling deeply while tears started making tracks on her face.

"I can't lose her, Jayden," she cried. Jayden pulled her in a deep hug.

"Shhh, "He whispered.

"I can't lose her," she cried harder into his chest. Jayden pulled her back to look at her face to face. He put his hands on both of her cheeks and wiped away the tears.

"Listen to me. You are not going to lose her. Serena will be okay," he reassured her. "She's going to be fine." Emily's breathing gradually returned to normal. "There you go." He slowly let go of her face. Emily wiped up the remaining tears. "Now let's go in there and say hi to Serena," Jayden smiled. Emily put on a brave face and nodded her head.

Once again, she slowly opened the door and entered Serena's room. She tip-toed over to the bed. Serena was lying there completely still, almost too still. She looked peaceful though. Emily turned around to Jayden who was watching her from the door.

"I don't want to wake her," Emily whispered. Jayden looked around.

"Wait here," he whispered back and left the room. He asked one of the nurses at the desk for a pen and some paper and returned. Emily smiled at him. He was so sweet. He handed her the pen and paper.

She quickly scribbled, _Came to visit but you were asleep and I didn't want to wake you. I'll be back soon though. xoxo, Emily. _She placed the note on the table next to the bed. She bent over to give Serena a kiss and Jayden noticed yet another bruise on her side. He had to get this out of Emily. She was really hurt, but why wouldn't she tell him? He looked at her.

"I'm ready to go," Emily whispered and they headed out. The trip back home was pretty quiet. Neither said anything. They finally reached the Shiba house and Jayden parked the car. They slowly walked in to the house. No one seemed to be around. They went into the kitchen. Jayden poured Emily a glass of water and handed it to her.

"Thanks," she said in a tired voice. Just then Mia walked in.

"I see you two are up," Mia observed. She took notice of Emily's outfit. "I don't know what's going on but you're fashion sense went way down the drain. That outfit looks terrible." Emily just looked down at her cup. "Oh and you need to practice more. You are getting to be a lousy sparring partner. Whatever's going on, you need to fix it," Mia snapped.

"Why are you being so rude?" Jayden defended Emily after noticing she said nothing.

"I'm just saying. If she's going to call herself a samurai, she needs to live up to it," Mia claimed.

"Same goes for you. Samurai don't judge and criticize others. So before you talk about others look at yourself," Jayden acknowledged. Mia looked really hurt but brushed it off.

"Whatever, I'm going to bed," she said and headed to her room. Jayden looked after her. Why was she being so rude? Mia was one of the nicest people he had ever met. Why was she suddenly being mean to Emily. He turned to look at Emily. She had a glum look on her face.

"She's right, you know," Emily said and headed for the living room. Jayden followed.

"About what?" Jayden asked.

"About it all. I've been lacking a lot lately. I need to try harder," Emily stated as she sat down on the couch. Jayden slowly sat down next to her.

"Em, you're going through a lot. I think you have the right to rest a little," Jayden comforted her. She looked up at him. He gave a little smirk back. Emily couldn't help but smile. She put her head on his shoulder.

"Thank you," she whispered.

"What for?" Jayden asked.

"For being there for me. I don't know what I'd do without you," Emily confessed.

"You wouldn't be starting up food fights, that's for sure," Jayden chuckled. Emily laughed.

"I guess not," she said softly. They sat there for a while just thinking. They were both more exhausted than they realized and fell asleep there on the couch together, with Emily's head on Jayden's shoulder.


	9. Uncovered

_Beep. Beep. Beep._ Mike's alarm clock was going off. Mike groaned and slammed his hand on it. Slowly he pulled himself out of bed and headed into the kitchen. He walked through and hallway, around the corner, and passed the living room. He paused and looked back into the living room. Jayden and  
Emily were there, fast asleep. Mike headed for the kitchen where the rest of the team was already eating. Mike walked passed everyone, grabbed the cereal, and sat down without a word.

"I'm guessing you saw Jay and Em?" Mia asked. Mike said nothing. "They're getting really bad at covering their tracks," Mia snorted.

"There is nothing to cover up, Mia. Seriously. Quit being paranoid," Kevin said out flatly.

"Like you know anything," Mia scowled.

"Why do you even care so much?" Kevin asked. Mia looked away. It took Kevin a second but he figured it out. "Oh wooooow," Kevin exaggerated. "You like Jayden." Mia's head whipped toward him. "That's why you're doing all of this. You're jealous!" Mike and Antonio looked up at Mia. It all seemed to make sense now.

Jayden opened his eyes. He quickly realized it was past 7:00 am. He looked around. He was in the living room. Why was he in the living room? His shoulder felt a little numb. He looked over to find a sleeping Emily on it. He smiled.

"Em," he whispered. Emily gradually opened her eyes and took in the scenery. She went wide-eyed.

"Oh gosh. I'm so sorry Jayden! I must have fallen asleep! I didn't even realize-."

"Em, it's okay," Jayden cut her off and smiled. Emily smiled back, relieved. Slowly they got up and went into the kitchen. Everyone was silent. It was a pretty awkward breakfast but it passed and everyone went on to train. Antonio took Emily as his partner today and Jayden took Kevin. It was a light practice, not too hard. Antonio was definitely going much easier then Mia. After practice was over they all went in. Emily decided to confront Mia.

"Hey Mia, could we talk," she asked as she went up to her.

"No," Mia simply said and walked away. Emily turned around; the rest of the team was staring at her.

"What did I do?" Emily wailed. Kevin looked down. Mike decided to approach her. He put his arms on her shoulders. Jayden stiffened up a bit.

"It's not you. You didn't do anything," Mike assured her. Emily gave him a confused look.

"Then why is she so mad at me?" Emily asked. Mike took in a deep breath.

"She'll tell you when she's ready," Mike stated. Emily pushed his arms off her shoulders and went into her room. She didn't understand what was happening and why no one would tell her. Jayden looked after her as she left. He wanted to go after her but knew she'd want to be alone for now.

"Anyone want to explain to me, what's happening?" Jayden asked. Mike and Kevin looked at each other nervously. Neither said anything. "You guys, this isn't just a little argument anymore. This could hurt both of them out in battle." Mike looked at Jayden.

"Well…" Mike started. "You see, Mia has this crush, so to say…"

"Okay? What does that have to do with Emily?" Jayden was even more confused now.

"Well, she has a crush on… you," Mike finished. Jayden was taken back for a moment.

"What?" he uttered. Jayden snapped back to the topic. "Okay but I still don't see what that has to do with Emily."

"Well, you and Emily have been spending a lot of time together lately…" Mike continued.

"So? I've been helping her through something," Jayden replied.

"Through what?" Antonio interrupted. They all looked at Jayden expectantly.

"Doesn't matter," Jayden stated. The others looked disappointed that he hadn't told them.

"We're not supposed to keep secrets from each other, remember?" Mike retorted.

"I know that but this isn't my secret to share. It's Emily's and she's not ready yet," Jayden said simply. "Back to the point, I still don't understand why Mia is doing this."

"She's jealous," Mike blurted. "She thinks you and Emily are together and she's jealous. Simple as that," Mike bluntly said. _Mia thought they were together? This day is getting weirder and weirder,_ Jayden thought.

"There is nothing going on between me and Emily. We're just good friends, that's all," Jayden said. Mike looked relieved.

"I knew it!" Kevin shouted. "I knew it! I knew it! I told you guys!" Kevin cheered. Jayden looked at him and raised an eyebrow. Kevin quieted down.

"So that's why Mia's doing this to Em? Because of me?" Jayden asked.

"Uh, well kind of," Mike replied. Jayden felt terrible. He had to go talk to Emily and Mia later to clear this all up. Jayden walked away and began his independent training. He kept looking at the door thinking Emily would come out. She usually went out for her daily run at around this time. He thought about it more and realized he hadn't actually seen Emily go out for her run in a while. She's been doing all of her training in her room. He finished his training and decided to go check up on her. He went up to her door, only to find music blasting loudly. He knocked a few times and called out her name but no answer. He slowly opened the door to her room. He entered and closed the door behind him. He looked around and found a little, blonde head popping up from behind the bed then disappearing. Emily was doing push-ups. The radio was on the dresser next to him and he lowered the volume down to almost silent.

"Emily?" he called out. He heard something hit the ground hard. He must have scared her. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to scare you." Jayden started walking around the bed to see her.

Emily sensed he was coming and screamed, "No! No! Don't come over here!" Jayden froze.

"Why?" he asked.

"Uh… you just can't," she called out.

"Emily, don't be silly. I want to see if you're okay," Jayden said.

"I'm fine, really. Just don't come over here," Emily yelled.

"Why not?"

"I, uh… I don't want you to see me like this," Emily called out.

"Like what?" Jayden asked. Emily went silent. "Emily, I'm not leaving until you tell me what's going on." Silence. "Emily!" he yelled. Emily panicked. She had no choice. _Crap. This is going to be bad_, she thought. Slowly she stood up from behind the bed. Jayden's mouth dropped.

"Oh my God," he muttered. Emily was standing in front of him in shorts and a sports bra, covered in bruises and welts. They were everywhere. Purple, red, blue, big, small, swollen. Everything you can think of. Never in his life had he seen someone so beat up. Jayden was surprised she was even standing. Emily just gulped; she didn't know what to do. She slowly walked to him.

"I know it looks bad, but it's really not," she tried to reassure him. Jayden lightly touched the bruise on her shoulder. Emily winced and jumped back a bit. Jayden looked at her with so much worry on his face. Why didn't she say anything? Why would she hide this from them? Who could ever do this to Emily? In a heartbeat, Jayden's worry changed into anger.

"Who did this to you?" he growled.

"Jayden, calm down. I'm fine," Emily said.

"Who. Did. This," Jayden repeated.

"Jayden, please. Don't do this," Emily cried.

"Who?" Emily took his hand into hers and held it close to her.

"Listen to me, I'm fine. Don't worry about me," Emily pleaded.

"Don't worry about you? Emily, look at yourself! You're covered in bruises!" he shouted. "I promised your sister I'd look after you, Emily," he uttered. "I'm not going to let anyone get away with doing this to you. You might not want to stand up to others but I will. You cannot keep letting others hurt you and get away with it. Just last night, in the kitchen you did nothing when Mia-," he froze. Emily went wide-eyed. _Oh-no, _Emily thought._ Oh no, no, no_. "Mia," he growled. Emily panicked again. He turned around and started walking towards the door, furious. Emily tried to hold him back.

"Jayden, no. Jayden, please. She didn't mean it," Emily cried out but it was too late, Jayden was already gone. Emily turned around. This isn't how this was supposed to happen. Jayden should have never seen her. This was going to be bad.

* * *

**Things are about to get crazy! Please review and tell me what you think! :)**


	10. The Confrontation

"MIA!" Jayden shouted furiously as he walked into the living room. Everyone turned to look at the crazed Jayden. They panicked and Mike jumped in front of him.

"Dude, calm down!" he yelled. Jayden shoved him to the side and went for Mia.

"WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?" He shouted. Mia backed away until she was up against the wall with nowhere to go. Jayden stood in front of her. His face, inches from hers. Mia looked terrified. Kevin and Antonio both tried to grab Jayden's arms but he pushed both of them away. "It's one thing to be jealous of someone but what you did to Emily is unbelievable." Everyone in the room looked at each other confused and worried.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Mia tried to fake. Jayden looked at her incredulously. What happened to Mia? When did she become this person? All of this anger built inside of him. No matter how mad though, he still could never hurt a girl, much less Mia so he punched the wall right next to Mia's head. Mia screamed, terrified. The rest of the team dove for Jayden and pulled him away.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Kevin yelled. Jayden tuned back to Mia. The team tensed.

"Jayden, what's going on? What happened to Emily?" Antonio asked.

"What's going on is that that poor girl is sitting in her room covered in bruises everywhere because of her," Jayden pointed to Mia. "How could you do that? To Emily?" Jayden faltered. "She said nothing the first time, so you decide to keep going? " Mia looked down at the floor. "Have you even seen her? There is not a part of her body that doesn't have a welt on it. I don't even know how she's standing. What's wrong with you?" The second Mike heard that, he ran to Emily's room.

"Oh my God," he said as he saw her. It was so much worse than Jayden had described. "Emily…"

"Mike, please don't. I don't want you all looking at me like that. I'm fine," Emily stated.

"Emily, this isn't 'fine'. This is really bad," Mike said. They heard Jayden yell. Emily looked down.

"I didn't want to get her in trouble. She didn't mean it. This isn't how it was supposed to happen," she cried. Mike looked at her as if she had gone crazy.

"Mia deserves everything she gets for this. These weren't accidents, Emily. She did this on purpose," Mike acknowledged. Jayden yelled from the living room again and Mike started to worry.

"Why then? Why did she do it?" Emily asked. Another shout came from Jayden and then they heard glass smash.

"I promise, everything will be explained but right now, we've got to get to the living room. Jayden is going crazy on Mia and I have a feeling that you're the only one who can calm him down right now," Mike blurted out quickly and started for the door. Emily quickly followed him.

* * *

"Are you out of your mind?" Jayden yelled.

"No, I'm not! Emily lied to me over and over!" Mia screamed back.

"That's not an excuse for what you did!" Jayden yelled again.

"You know what? I am sick and tired of everyone in this freaking house standing up for Emily! It's always about Emily!" Mia shouted. "When I get hurt, you guys brush it off and expect me to be fine the next day but when Emily gets hurt, you all run to her side and pamper her for days! Every day you all practice and go so easy on her as to not hurt her because she's sooo precious! You're all so in love with her, you don't even see that she's playing you and making you into idiots! She's an annoying little girl who should have never even been on the team in the first place! " Mia shouted.

"Don't talk about Emily like that! You know her and you know that's not what she's doing! She's a good person! You're the only one who's causing trouble here! " Jayden shouted. Mia freaked out and threw one of the glass vases at the wall near Jayden.

"Stop defending her!" Mia was now crying. "Just stop!" Kevin approached her but she pushed him away. "Why does everyone prefer her? What makes her so much better? Why is she always the first choice? I've tried everything and no matter what I do, it's always still Emily." Mia was bawling now. No one knew she had all of this boiling inside of her.

"Mia, you should have said something," Kevin empathized.

"Like what?" Mia wailed. "When I needed to talk, I always went to Emily. She was the one I thought I could go to but not anymore. She's a liar. Both you and her," Mia pointed to Jayden. "You think we don't know about you sneaking around?" Jayden looked a bit shocked. "Yeah, we know. Both of you are liars. That's all you've been doing to us, lying. I don't think I even trust you as our leader anymore," Mia announced.

"Okay, Mia. That's a bit too far," Kevin put in.

"Is it?" Mia retorted. "He's a liar. Him and that two-faced, dumb klutz."

"Don't call Emily that," Jayden warned.

"Why not? She's clumsy, incompetent, and just plain shallow." Mia listed.

"That's it! I've had it with you," Jayden growled and started towards Mia. Kevin and Antonio tried to hold him back but couldn't for long, Jayden was stronger than them both. "You are done with pushing Emily around!" He broke free of Kevin and Antonio and started heading towards Mia.

"Jayden!" he heard Emily yell. Everyone turned to see Emily standing at the entrance of the living room. They were at a loss for words.

"What the…" was all Kevin could get out. He and Antonio just stared at Emily with their mouths dropped. They could not believe the bruises were real, much less that Mia had caused them.

Mia looked over at Emily and gasped. She didn't know what to do or think. The bruises were so bad. Mia knew she had hit Emily hard but never thought that hard. She stared at Emily, unbelievingly. A pang of guilt and regret hit her hard. She could not believe she had done that to Emily.

Emily stared at Jayden. "Calm down," she pleaded. He looked at her. She was so bruised and hurt. His anger flashed up again.

"Why? Emily, look at what she did to you," he replied and turned to face Mia once again. Emily walked over to him. He looked back at her. "She's not going to get away with this," he determined. Emily walked in front of him so he was looking right at her.

"We'll figure it out but right now, you need to calm down," she said in her softest voice. Jayden took a deep breath. Emily turned to look at everyone. "It's late. We can all talk tomorrow," she said and glanced over Mia for a second. She saw Mia's guilt all over her face and felt bad that Jayden had called her out like that. She should have gone to talk it out with Mia herself instead of waiting and this happening. She looked up at Jayden, who she could tell was still a bit angry. "Come on," she beckoned and started heading towards the hall. Everyone went in their own directions. Emily got to her room and sat on her bed. She thought about what had just happened. Not a minute passed and there was a knock on the door. Emily sighed and went over to open it. It was Jayden holding a bowl full of water with some ice in one hand and a damp cloth in the other. Emily smiled and let out a little giggle. He was so sweet and caring. She was so lucky to have him. Jayden smiled back.

"I wanted to make sure you were okay," he chuckled.

"You're so sweet, you know that?" Emily giggled.

"Sure, just don't tell the others," he smirked at her and Emily smiled back. They both got a fuzzy feeling.

"Do you want to come in?" she asked.

"Sure," Jayden replied and followed her in.

* * *

**Don't freak out, nothing inappropriate is going to happen; this is a kid's story :P Thank you to all who reviewed last chapter! Let me know what you thought of this one. Also, I just want to clear up that no, I don't hate Mia. I love her character! I just needed a sort of 'bad guy' and it made the most sense that it'd be Mia. I hope you liked the chapter, & keep reading! The next couple chapters are my favorites :) **


	11. First

"Do you want to come in?" she asked.

"Sure," Jayden replied and followed her in. She led the way in and plopped herself down on her bed. Jayden put the bowl and cloth on her night stand and sat down next to her. He stared at her. Her bruises were so dark. Both anger and sorrow rushed through him. He couldn't stand the thought of anyone hurting Emily. He'd never let it happen again.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Emily snapped him out of his thoughts.

"Like what?" he asked.

"I don't know. You were just looking at me differently," Emily replied. Jayden turned his head sideways, looking confused. "It doesn't matter," Emily shrugged off.

"Weirdo," Jayden threw out and smiled. Emily pretended to get all offended but ended up giggling. She playfully punched his arm but Emily, being her clumsy self, fell a bit sideways and hit her shoulder into Jayden's.

"Ahhh," she managed to get out. The welt on her shoulder began throbbing with pain.

"I'm so sorry, Em!" Jayden blurted out, not knowing what to do. Emily gave him a little smile.

"It's not your fault Jayden. I was being clumsy," she replied holding her shoulder.

"Here," Jayden said and grabbed the cloth. He dipped it into the ice water and put it on Emily's shoulder. Emily shivered. It felt as if winter had engulfed her. The cloth felt like ice on her skin but at the same time it felt good. It reduced the pain. "Better?" he asked.

"A lot," she replied. Jayden slowly took the cloth off of her shoulder and dipped it into the cold water once again. He took it out and placed it on Emily's back, on another welt. Jayden looked down her back and arms.

"Why didn't you say anything?" he asked. Emily looked down.

"I guess I just didn't want you guys to see me like this," Emily sighed. "I told you before, I don't want to be the weak one on the team; the one that everyone has to protect." She knew Jayden about to say something but she cut him off. "Thank you though, for standing up for me." Emily got that fuzzy feeling again. Jayden had stood up for her. He had gotten so defensive for her. Emily felt herself blush a bit.

"I'd do it again if I had to," Jayden claimed and he took the cloth off again. This time though, instead of putting the cloth on the welt, he lightly touched it with his fingers. Emily shivered at his touch. "I won't ever let this happen to you again." Jayden stated. Emily felt herself blushing again.

"Thank you," she whispered. With Jayden, she felt safe, like nothing could ever hurt her. Jayden put the cloth back on the bruise. He wished he could take all of it away, all of the bruises and hurt. He hated that he hadn't noticed it before. He could have stopped it, stopped Emily from having to go through this.

"So did you ever get it out of Mia?" Emily asked.

"Get what?"

"Why she did all of this," Emily replied. Jayden looked around. This was going to be awkward to explain. Emily noticed his silence. She turned a bit. "Jayden?" Jayden cleared his throat.

"Uhm, she uh did it because she was… well jealous," Jayden got out. Emily was taken back.

"Of what?" she asked.

"Of you," Jayden responded. Emily furrowed her eyebrows in confusion.

"Why would she be jealous of me? She's the stronger and better one. What could I possibly have that she' be jealous of?"

"Me," Jayden replied. Emily turned around to look at him face-to-face.

"What?" She was in a world of confusion right now.

"So apparently Mia has a… crush on me," Jayden murmured. Emily's eyes widened.

"What? Mia? A crush on you?" Emily exclaimed surprised. "I would not have guessed that in a million years," Emily laughed.

"Tell me about it," Jayden laughed back.

"Okay, so how does your love life equal Mia hating me?" Emily asked, once again confused.

"Well Mia seems to think that… we're together," Jayden finished. It took a moment for it all to seep in but once it did, Emily laughed.

"Wait, so all of this was just because she thought you and I were dating?" Emily asked, surprised.

"Yep," Jayden replied.

"Oh my gosh, that's so silly," Emily said. She was yet again blushing. Why had she been blushing so much tonight? Was it because of Jayden? Oh gosh, did she like Jayden? She quickly looked up at him. He had on that rare smile of his that she loved so much and oh gosh, his eyes. She could get lost in them. _Wait, what was she thinking? No, stop Emily_, she thought. When had all of this happened?

"They know something's up, Em," Jayden said softly.

"What do you mean?"

"We weren't as careful as we thought we were. They've seen us go out. That's where they got all of this from. They don't know about Serena so they thought we were sneaking off on a date or something," Jayden paused and patted the cloth on the bruises on Emily's arms. "You need to tell them Em." Emily looked at him.

"I know. I just…" Emily sighed. "It's hard. I feel like if I say it out loud, then it's real. Like Serena's really in the hospital. When I'm here I feel like because they don't know and don't bring it up, it's almost like it's not happening. No one's here to remind me of it and what could happen." Jayden looked up at her. He wished he knew what to say or do to make her feel better, he'd give anything to.

"Em, it's going to be alright," Jayden gave her a little smirk. Emily smiled back at him.

"How do you do that?" she asked.

"Do what?"

"Make me feel safe." She replied. It took a second for Jayden to understand. He smiled. _He made her feel safe_, Jayden thought. He felt a warm, jittery feeling. A couple minutes passed in silence but it wasn't awkward silence. It was comfortable. "Can I ask you something else?"

"Go for it," he replied still tending to her welts.

"Earlier you said that you promised Serena you'd take care of me… why?" Jayden put the cloth down on the table and turned to look at her. He hadn't realized how close they were, only inches apart from each other.

"Because I care about you, Emily," Jayden answered. Emily looked deep into his blue eyes. He wasn't lying. She felt a surge of warmth flow through her and felt like she was about to blush again.

"Why do you care about me so much? You've been helping me all of this time and never told me why," Emily noted.

"You were hurt Emily. You needed a friend," Emily cringed when he said friend but Jayden didn't see.

"I'm happy you were that friend. I can't imagine not falling apart if it was anyone but you," she admitted. Jayden smiled. Something in the way she said that gave him that jittery feeling again. His heart started racing. It felt as if it would jump out of his chest.

"I'll always be here for you, Em," Jayden assured her and put a hand on her cheek, his thumb grazing it. "I'm not going anywhere." Jayden didn't even realize what he was doing until it happened. He bent over and kissed Emily. Emily was surprised at first but it didn't take long for her to respond and she kissed him back. He cupped her face completely, deepening the kiss and she twined her fingers in his hair. Neither of them had realized they had these feelings buried within them. They've just been slowly building and building past friends and in this moment all of that exploded, making them see what they were missing the entire time.

Jayden finally pulled away from the kiss. He looked at her, his hands never leaving her cheeks. "Wow," was all he got out. He couldn't even describe what the kiss was like. He felt like an empty space in him was filled. Like a void that was always there but he never realized.

"First kiss?" Emily asked. She was beyond happy. Jayden had just kissed her. Jayden, the leader of the team, the strongest of the rangers, had just kissed _her_. She couldn't believe it.

"Yeah," Jayden said, and blushed a bit, which Emily noticed. _Jayden was blushing? For her?_ She thought. Jayden was the fearless leader. She thought it was impossible for Jayden to ever feel shy much less blush. But yet, here he was doing both… for her. Emily smiled.

"Same here," she giggled. Jayden felt a bit more relieved. He had never kissed a girl before and didn't want to seem inexperienced to Emily. Jayden brushed some hair from her face, never taking his gaze off of her.

"Well I'm glad you were my first," he chuckled. Emily beamed. She thought she was in another reality. Could this really be happening? She smiled even wider.

"Same here," she replied. "I kind of want to make you my second too," Emily giggled. Jayden caught on to what she meant and kissed her again. Of course though, they had to be interrupted. A knock came from the door. Emily, not wanting to, pulled away from Jayden.

"Who is it?" Emily called out.

"It's Mia. Can I come in?" the voice came back. Jayden immediately tensed up. Emily gave him a reassuring look.

"Yeah," Emily called back. She and Jayden separated a bit as the door opened. Mia came in and looked from Jayden to Emily. Emily nodded towards the bowl and cloth. "He's helping me out," she said. Mia then understood.

"Oh okay. Do you mind if I take over?" Mia asked cautiously to Jayden, knowing he was probably still mad. Jayden looked at Emily and she just nodded her head, silently telling him it was okay. Jayden turned to look at Mia.

"Sure," he sighed. "Let me just change the water," he went for the bowl but Mia took it first.

"I got it," she assured him and headed out the door. Jayden looked back at Emily worried.

"Are you sure?" he asked.

"Mia's not going to do anything," Emily claimed.

"I know she won't do anything. I meant, are you sure you're comfortable talking to her by yourself?" Jayden asked. Emily smiled at him. She took his hand into hers and intertwined their fingers.

"I'm going to be fine," Emily reassured him. Jayden let out a smile.

"Okay," Jayden said and lifted her hand up. He kissed the back of her hand and let it go. "I'll see you in the morning." He smiled as he started walking out.

"See you in the morning," Emily beamed. This night was magical. Just then Mia appeared at the door with the bowl and more ice. Jayden awkwardly passed her on the way out. Mia closed the door behind her. She placed the bowl on the nightstand, where it previously was. She sat down next to Emily and turned to look at her. _This could go really well or this could go really bad_, was Emily's only thought.


	12. The Second Choice

"I don't even know where to start," Mia said. "I'm so sorry, Emily."

"Mia-,"

"No, just hear me out first," Mia stopped her. Emily nodded. "First I want you to know that I am so so so sorry. I had no right to hit you that hard. I knew I was going way too tough but never thought I had hit you that hard," Mia paused. "It's just that seeing you with Jayden, it made me lose control over what I was doing. Just seeing you guys together killed me."

"Mia, you should know that Jayden and I weren't together," Emily claimed. She made sure to say "weren't" as in past tense. She wasn't quite sure what was going on between them now. "Why didn't you tell me you liked him?" Emily asked. Mia looked down.

"Well I thought I liked him. Now I realize that I don't really. The reason I wanted to be with him so bad was for… well… attention. Jayden's the leader so if I was with him, it would make me more important and make the rest of the team notice me more." Mia confessed.

"Mia, you're beautiful and strong. You don't need any guy to make you important," Emily argued.

"You don't get it though, Emily. You don't know what it's like to be forgotten," Mia said. "During battles, the guys always check up on you. They always make sure you're alright. They don't even take a second glance at me. It's like I'm not even there. You're always the priority and I'm just whatever comes after." Mia said and felt as though she were about to cry. Emily tried to say something but Mia interrupted her again. "No, let me finish, please." Emily quieted down again. "So with all of that going on, of course I got jealous. And then you and Jayden started sneaking out. That's when I cracked because I realized in that moment that I would never be as important as you. You had taken Jayden, and everything just crumbled down. It made the guys, Mike in particular, pay even more attention to you and ignore me all the more. But the worst part of it all was that you lied to me," Mia choked. Emily wanted to say she was sorry and explain it all but she waited to let Mia finish. "You kept going out with Jayden and lied to me about it. We always share everything with each other and it seemed like you just erased me and forgot about me too. That day when we first practiced together I tried to approach you and mentioned how friends tell each other everything but you brushed it off and I realized you weren't going to say anything. That's when I lost it. I thought we were friends, sisters almost. I never thought you'd hide something like that from me. So I over reacted. Everything that's been building up for so long, being ignored and pushed aside, came crashing down and I blamed you. I'm so sorry for that. I just… I didn't know what to do. I couldn't talk to you anymore and the guys were the reason all of it was happening in the first place so I couldn't go to them. I didn't know what to do," Mia cried. Emily scooted towards Mia and hugged her.

She felt so bad for Mia. Looking back now, she began to realize the truth behind Mia's words. The guys didn't pay that much attention to Mia but not for the reasons she thought. Emily pulled back so she was looking at Mia face-to-face.

"Do you want to know why?" Emily asked.

"What?" Mia was confused. Emily sent her a little smile.

"Do you want to know why they watch me during battles and don't look at you?" Emily expanded. Mia just stared at Emily, her heart beating fast. "It's because you're good. They never take a second glance at you because they already know you can takedown the moogers and nighlock easily. Mia you are so skilled in samurai fighting that not one of us every doubts you can beat the enemy. The only reason they watch me is because they do doubt my skills and I can be taken down by a nighlock much easier than the rest of you." Emily finished.

"Emily, that's not true," Mia put in.

"It is Mia but it's okay. I understand why. You guys have been training your whole lives whereas I haven't been training for as long seeing as I wasn't even supposed to be a ranger. I can understand that and their doubts. Now you need to understand that for you, there is no doubt. You can handle just about anything thrown at you," Emily smiled. Mia gave her a small smile back.

"As for the sneaking out and lying part, I'm sorry. I can totally understand your anger. We're best friends and I shouldn't have done that. I'm sorry," Emily apologized. Mia just laughed.

"There is something really wrong with you, you know that?" She smiled at Emily through her now drying tears. Emily smiled back.

"Why?" she asked.

"Because, Emily look at you! Look at what I did to you! Even with all of that, you're still willing to talk to me and haven't slapped me yet," Mia laughed. Emily laughed along with her. "I seriously don't deserve a friend like you," Mia quieted down. Emily sent her a hopeful look.

"Mia, don't be silly," she stated. Mia's smile returned.

"No seriously. You deserve a free hit. Hit me anywhere you want, as hard as you want," Mia joked. She stretched her arms out and squinted her eyes playfully. Emily laughed.

"Mia! I'm not going to hit you!" Emily responded. Mia opened her eyes and looked at Emily.

"Come on! Just punch me in the arm! It'll make me feel better about all of this," Mia pleaded as her smile got bigger. Emily just laughed. She thought of playfully hitting Mia's arm but remembered how that turned out with Jayden.

"Maybe later," Emily laughed. Mia pouted her lips but her smile returned quickly. They sat there and just laughed for a little. It felt good to have each other again.

"So if you and Jayden weren't going out on dates or anything, where did you guys sneak out to all of those nights?" Mia asked trying to puzzle everything together. Emily looked down at her hands. She wanted to tell Mia but she couldn't bring herself to. She didn't want Mia giving her that look of pity and reminding her all the time about what was going on with Serena. Plus, Serena said she was going to be better than ever soon so it wouldn't even matter later. Emily looked back up at Mia.

"I can't tell you. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I know we're best friends and we should share everything with each other but I can't. Something personal happened that I didn't want anyone to know about. I wanted to keep it just to myself but Jayden found out. I didn't want him or any of you to find out. I'm sorry but you have to trust me. Once it's all over I promise I'll tell you everything," Emily said nervously waiting for Mia's response.

Mia frowned. She was upset that Emily hadn't told her. She thought they would finally clear the air and figure it all out but Emily was still hiding stuff from her. She glanced over at her. Emily looked nervous. She looked like she did want to tell Mia something but for some reason couldn't. Emily was a good person and after all that had happened, Emily still found it in her heart to forgive Mia. So Mia found it in her heart to trust Emily.

"Okay," Mia said after a long pause. "Just know I'm here when you're ready." Emily sighed. She was so relieved.

"Thank you," Emily said and hugged Mia. After a moment they both pulled away.

"So are you sure there's nothing going on between you and Jayden?" Mia teased. "I mean I've seen the way he looks at you sometimes." This sparked Emily's interest.

"What do you mean?" Emily asked.

"I don't know, he just looks at you in a way that I've never seen him look at anyone else. You're definitely more than a friend to him. The question though is what?" Mia explained.

"I really can't tell you," Emily answered honestly.

"Well is there any possibility of you and Jayden? Do you like him?" Mia asked. Emily blushed. "Oh my gosh, you totally like him!" Mia exclaimed. Emily didn't say anything, confirming Mia's words. Mia jumped up and down excited to get more out of Emily. "So… do you know if he likes you? I can find out if you want!" Mia offered.

"No thanks," Emily responded. After a pause she stated, "I already know he likes me."

"What? How?" Mia asked. Emily blushed again.

"Well… right before you walked in… he kissed me," Emily replied. Mia's eyes went big.

"OH. MY. GOSH. Tell me everything!" Mia exclaimed. Emily laughed and they spent the rest of the night talking about the kiss and Jayden. Things were back to normal. Finally.

* * *

**See? Mia was never really bad. She was just hurt! :P I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter and like Mia again haha :) I know, there was no Jayden/Emily this chapter but I just needed to explain why Mia had done what she did. I promise there will be lots of JE fluff coming up so keep reading for that and the big moment aka climax is close so watch out for that. I can't wait to see everyone's reaction to that :P So yeah, stay tuned, keep reading and tell me what you think! Thank you to everyone who reviews! :)**


	13. Breakfast

**Hey guys! It's been so long since the last update! I'm so sorry to keep you waiting! I'm finally finishing the story up now though :) Hope you all enjoy the last few chapters!**

* * *

"MIA?" Kevin called out. He had been searching everywhere this morning but couldn't find Mia. She wasn't in her room, or anywhere for that matter. She was nowhere to be seen. Mike walked out of his room, still half asleep.

"Yo, what's going on?" Mike asked.

"I can't find Mia anywhere. Have you seen her?" Kevin responded.

"No, sorry bro," Mike replied.

"You don't think she left, do you?"

"Why would she leave?" Mike inquired.

"Well, with everything that happened last night…" Kevin answered. Mike nodded. Kevin had a point. "Maybe Jayden knows," Kevin concluded.

"Do you really think bringing Mia up to him is a good idea? I mean, did you see the dude last night? He was pissed," Mike acknowledged. Kevin thought about it for a second. He knew Jayden was mad but he had to find shrugged and headed for Jayden's room. He slowly opened the door. Jayden was still asleep. Weird. Jayden was always one of the first ones up. Kevin knocked on the door frame.

"Jayden?" he called. Jayden groaned in response, clearly not happy he was being awakened. "Have you seen Mia? We can't find her." Jayden slowly sat up to look at Kevin and Mike at his door.

"I haven't seen her since last night. She went into Emily's room to talk, I don't know if she came out," Jayden answered and with that he slumped back down into the comfort of his bed. Kevin and Mike glanced at each other a bit worried.

"What do you mean 'you don't know if she came out'?" Mike asked.

"I mean I was up 'til late and I never heard her come out. Now both of you out, I'm tired," Jayden ordered. Kevin was quick to follow his leader's wish and pushed Mike out of the way to close the door. _Finally some peace and quiet,_ Jayden thought. Just then though the door opened again. He heard two pans crash together loudly.

"Mike!" Jayden yelled without even looking. He threw one of his pillows at the door and heard Mike's laugh right as it closed. Mike turned around and bumped into Kevin. Kevin looked down at the pans in Mike's hands then at Jayden's door.

"Really?" was all Kevin said. Mike just grinned. They put the pans back and made their way to Emily's door.

"Do you think they killed each other?" Mike whispered playfully. Kevin shot him a look.

"I have to ask again, really?" Kevin complained. Mike just laughed. Kevin sighed and put his hand on the handle. Just as he did though, the door opened and a smiling Mia came out.

"Hey guys! Good morning!" she chirped happily and skipped by them towards her room. Kevin and Mike both looked at each other then at the half opened door.

"She killed Emily!" Mike whispered. Kevin nudged him in the rib. "Ow! What was that for?" Kevin just gave him a sarcastic smile and went into Emily's room. He looked around.

"She's not in here," Kevin stated.

"I knew it! Where do you think Mia hid the body?" Mike asked sticking to his joke. Kevin just rolled his eyes and headed out into the hall. Both of them noticed a strong smell coming from the kitchen. "That smells really good," Mike claimed and they both went into the kitchen. There they found Emily making breakfast and Mia setting the table. Kevin and Mike looked at each other once again confused. They thought Emily and Mia would be fighting but here they were, all nice.

"Hey guys! You hungry?" Emily asked. She started putting the food in everyone's plates.

"Oh, that smells sooooo good!" Antonio cooed as he entered and took a seat at the table. Emily laughed at him.

"Seriously Em, this looks delicious!" Mike exclaimed, thankful Mia wasn't cooking today. He and Kevin sat down.

"Where's Jayden?" Mia asked looking at the boys.

"Still asleep. He's grumpy today," Mike said between bites. Mia looked over at Emily and smiled.

"Em, I got this covered. Would you mind getting Jayden?" Mia asked innocently. Emily smiled. She knew what Mia was doing but the other boys didn't catch on.

"Sure," Emily responded. She left the kitchen and went towards Jayden's room. She was so nervous. She didn't know what to do now. They had kissed last night so it might be awkward between them now. She got to Jayden's door and slowly opened it.

"Mike, I swear I'm going to-," Jayden started.

"It's me, Emily," she interrupted him. Jayden shot up from his bed and turned to look at Emily.

"Em, hey. Sorry I thought you were Mike," he apologized and got out of his bed.

"It's fine," Emily giggled. "Time to get up though, sleepy head. Breakfast is ready." Jayden froze.

"Did Mia cook?" he asked cautiously. Emily laughed.

"No, I did," she replied. Jayden lightened up again.

"Okay good. You had me worried for a second there," he joked and Emily giggled again. He walked over to her. "So… how'd last night go?" Emily looked up at him.

"Depends what part of last night you're talking about?" she teased. Jayden let out a little laugh.

"I'm talking about Mia. What happened?" he asked.

"Not much. We talked it all through and we're back to normal again. Mia really didn't mean to do anything. She felt like you guys don't care about her," Emily replied. A frown appeared on Jayden's face.

"What do you mean?" Jayden asked.

"I don't know. You guys just seem to not pay as much attention to her and it really gets to her," Emily responded. Jayden thought about it.

"I didn't even realize she felt like that," he murmured, upset that no one had noticed earlier. "That still doesn't make up for what she did to you though," Jayden claimed.

"I know but I can at least understand where she was coming from," Emily said.

"You have such a big heart," Jayden smiled and took a step closer to her. Emily looked up at him and smiled back. "So what about the other part of last night? How'd that go?" he teased, referring to the kiss.

"A little like this," Emily answered and stood up on her tip toes. She pulled Jayden in and kissed him. Once again it was like magic around them. They both heard what sounded like a squeal from the hallway. Jayden pulled away.

"What was that?" he asked and looked outside his door.

"I don't know," Emily replied but she did know. It was Mia. Jayden walked back inside. Emily smiled. He looked so cute in his red PJs and messy hair. "Come on, breakfast is waiting," she said as she headed for the door. Jayden took her hand and spun her around into another kiss.

"Do we really have to go?" he joked. Emily giggled. She gave him a peck on the lips and went out. Jayden looked after her. He had never woken up this happy. Jayden was not the lovey-dovey kind of guy. He was serious and stern but something about Emily had changed that part of him and now he felt himself falling head over heels for her.

"Jayden!" he heard her call out giggling down the hall. He loved the sound of her voice. He headed for the kitchen after her.

"Look who decided to get up," Mike joked as Jayden walked into the kitchen.

"It is very unusual for you to be in bed at this hour, Jayden," Mentor noted.

"Sorry mentor, won't happen again," Jayden assured him, then sat down to eat.

"So mentor, is it okay for us to go to the dance this weekend?" Mia asked. Everyone rolled their eyes and sighed. It seemed like she never stopped thinking and/or talking about the masquerade dance.

"Oh Mia," Mike laughed and the others joined in. Mia just scowled at them.

"So?" she pursued. Mentor thought about it.

"Yes, but you must not stay late and if there is a nighlock attack in the city, you must leave to fight," mentor said.

"Understood," Jayden replied as the team leader while Mia started jumping up and down in her chair.

"Oh my gosh!" Mia squealed. They finished up breakfast quicker then usual. It was mostly because Mia spent the entire time talking about dresses and costumes. "Come on Emily, we have so much to do!" Mia called out as she placed her dishes in the sink and bounded for her room. Emily put her plate in the sink and went into the hall with Jayden right behind. The others were shuffling close behind. Jayden looked around, making sure no one was in the hall and stole a quick kiss from Emily.

"Good luck with her," Jayden laughed nodding towards Mia's room. Emily giggled as the others started entering the hall. Jayden smiled and headed around the corner towards his room. Emily stood there just thinking about Jayden for a moment so when she turned around, she didn't realize Mike was there and let out a frightened gasp. Jayden took a step back and peeked around the corner. It was just Mike.

"Emily, it's me, Mike," he assured her. Emily laughed at her clumsiness.

"Sorry, I was just lost in thought and didn't realized you were there," she explained and headed passed him, towards Mia's room.

"Hey Em," Mike called after her. Emily turned around.

"Yeah?"

"I was wondering if… well you know the dance is this weekend and… I was uh wondering if," Mike stuttered nervously. "If you… want to go with me?" Emily's heart dropped. She was hoping to go with Jayden but there was no way she could say no to Mike. He was so nervous and she knew it'd break his heart and he was such a nice guy. She then spotted Jayden around the corner. What was he doing there? She sent him a desperate look. Jayden looked off for a second but turned back to her and nodded his head, telling her to accept Mike's offer. Mike turned around to see what Emily was looking at just Jayden was quick and ducked behind the corner. Mike turned around confused. "Emily?" he asked, bringing her back to the situation. Emily put on a smile.

"Sure, I'd love to," Emily replied trying to put on a happy face.

"Sweet," Mike's smile radiated. Emily felt so terrible.


	14. Get Ready

"Wow. Mia you look stunning!" Emily blurted out the second Mia walked in. She had changed into her sparkly, pink masquerade dress. Mia twirled around in joy.

"I love this dress!" Mia yipped. A knock came from the door.

"Mia, we're leaving in 5 minutes, hurry up," it was Kevin, yet again keeping them on a time schedule. They were all going together as a group, except Mike and Emily. They were going separate from the rest of the rangers.

"Ahh, I haven't even put on my dress yet!" Emily said as she grabbed her dress. Mia snatched up her glittery mask.

"Okay, well me, Kevin, and Jayden are heading out. See you there!" Mia yelled as she ran out. Emily laughed. Mia was so excited for this dance. Emily put on her long, gold gown. The second Emily had seen the dress, she knew it was the one. She looked at herself in the mirror and as she did she saw the door open.

"Wow," was all Jayden could get out. He stared at her. "You look beautiful." Emily blushed.

"You don't look too bad yourself," Emily said, stepping closer to fix his tie. Jayden smiled and kissed her forehead. Emily looked up at him.

"I wish it was you."

"What?" Jayden asked confused.

"I wish I was going to the dance with you," Emily explained. She had said yes to Mike because she felt bad but the only person she really wanted to go with was Jayden.

"You have no idea how badly I want that," Jayden replied. "I can't-,"

"Jayden?" Kevin called out from the hall, obviously exasperated. Both Jayden and Emily laughed.

"That's my cue," Jayden said. Emily didn't want him to leave and her face showed it. Jayden gave her a smirk then bent over and placed a soft kiss on her lips. "Save me a dance?"

"Of course," Emily said as he left. Emily turned back around and finished up her hair and makeup.

When she finally finished, she went out into the living room to find Mike there playing his video games. She giggled, he looked like a child. At that, Mike's head shot up and his eyes went wide.

"Emily… you- you look amazing," he stuttered. Emily smiled.

"Thank you, Mike. Shall we go then?" She asked. Mike hurried to her side and held his arm out like a gentlemen. She took it and they headed out to what was to be a quite eventful evening.

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**Very short, I know but I have to set it up :) New update veeeery soon! Please review **


	15. Masquerade

"Can I just say again, how stunning you look tonight?" Mike repeated. Mike and Emily had arrived at the ball and had been dancing ever since.

"Mike, you're really sweet," Emily blushed. Mike smiled.

"You really do. Not just tonight though. You always look stunning to me," Mike said. Emily looked at him. She saw the smile behind his eyes. Jayden was right, Mike did like her. But she could only ever see him as a friend. Before things got too far, Emily needed to tell him.

"Mike-," she began.

"No, first just let me tell you something," he interjected. Before Emily could protest, he continued, "I like you Emily. I have from the day I first saw you. You are beautiful, kind, and sweet. I just need you to know that." Mike leaned in closer. "I just need…" and he pulled her into a kiss. Emily knew this would hurt him but she couldn't do it, she pulled out of the kiss. Mike looked at her.

"Emily, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to-,"

"No, Mike it's fine. I just… I need you to understand something," Emily looked deep into Mike's eyes and put in as much kindness as she could. "You're a good guy, some might even say the perfect guy… but not for me." Mike drew back a bit and Emily could see the disappointment in his eyes.

"I don't understand… why?" He barely got out.

"Because I'm with someone else, Mike," Emily eased out. Mike looked taken aback.

"Why would you come with me then?" he asked, a hint of anger in his voice. Emily put her hand on his cheek.

"I care about you too much Mike and I couldn't hurt you," she replied with the uttermost sincerity in her voice. Mike looked away. All this time he had hoped for something between them but she had been with someone else this whole time. Who was it? Could it be Jayden? Mike didn't want to believe it. If it was Jayden, wouldn't they have said something? Who could it be then? He didn't know what to believe anymore.

"I can't believe you," Mike said and turned around. Emily saw him walk away and out of her sight. She stood there frozen, a lonely tear made it's was down her cheek. What had she done? Mike was one of the closest people in her life, her best friend. Even though she didn't love him romantically, she loved him more than anything as a friend and now she had lost him.

"Emily?" it was Jayden's voice. Emily hadn't even noticed him walk up in front of her. He looked at her with sad, worried eyes. "Are you okay?" Emily shook her head, she wasn't and with that the tears flooded out.

"I can't believe I just lost him," Emily cried out. Jayden pulled her into a fierce hug, his big arms engulfing her into him.

"Em," Jayden said as he stroked her hair. "You haven't lost him, he's just mad." Jayden pulled away to look her in the eyes. "You haven't lost him," he assured her.

"I just- I wish none of this happened," Emily stuttered. Jayden looked down; he couldn't stand seeing Emily cry like this.

"This is my fault. I should have been more proper. I should've told the others once something happened. I never ever wanted you to get hurt, I'm so sorry," Jayden apologized. Emily looked at him shocked. This wasn't Jayden's fault, not at all but yet here he was still taking the blame for it. She knew Jayden. She knew he would take any fault upon himself just to help another. She put her fingers on his chin and pulled his face back up to look at her.

"Your heart is so big, Jayden." Emily said, putting her hand on his cheek. "We both know this isn't your fault."

"I just don't want to see you cry," he responded and leaned in so their foreheads were touching and kissed her nose.

Mike felt horrible after he walked away. It wasn't Emily's fault she didn't like him, no matter how much it hurt. He needed to go back and apologize. He went back through the crowd but stopped in his tracks when he saw Emily. She was standing there in another guy's arms. Their heads were leaned in and he had just kissed her nose. Mike tried to make out the guy but it was too dark, all he saw was a ruby handkerchief in the guy's vest pocket. He stood there staring. He wished it could be him there instead, holding Emily… but it wasn't. She belonged to someone else and by the looks of it, someone she loved. He was her friend before anything, so he should be happy for her, right?

An ear-splitting scream drew Mike out of his thoughts. He turned around to see crowds running. Mike made his way through to the source of the terror: a nighlock. Out of all the nights, why attack tonight? The nighlock shot what seemed to be a ball of energy. It hit the side of the building, causing a huge gap in the bricks and the glass all around to shatter. Mike ducked to shield himself from the onslaught of glass shards flying everywhere. He had never seen one nighlock attack cause so much damage before. He helped the remaining people get out of the area safely and returned to find the rest of the rangers already warding off the nighlock. At that, Mike then morphed and joined.

"Silly rangers, you can't defeat me!" The nighlock screamed out and sent out another ball of energy. The rangers dodged it but barely, Kevin and Mia were knocked over. Mike and Emily quickly ran to their side and helped them up. There was no awkward moment though because the two of them understood that the nighlock had to be defeated before anything. Jayden took his chance and swung at the nighlock, getting in three good hits and knocking the nighlock down. Jayden then went to help the others.

"Is everyone okay?" Jayden called out. Just as everyone replied 'yes', a cruel laugh whipped through the air.

"Did you really think defeating me would be that easy?" The nighlock yelled a ball of energy radiating in his hands. It was quick, but Emily caught it. The nighlock's eyes shifted from the team to Jayden for a glance. Emily had seen it though and knew exactly what the nighlock was about to do. She moved away from Mia, just in time to jump in front of Jayden. The ball of energy hit her square in the chest and sent her flying. She hit hard into one of the brick wall and collapsed onto the hard, concrete ground. She de-morphed and the world went pitch black for her.


	16. Is It Love?

"EMILY!" Jayden yelled as Emily hit the ground, the bricks collapsing on her. He ran faster than he ever had before in his life. He crashed down by her side, throwing aside all the bricks. "NO! EMILY!" He de-morphed as held her in his arms. He checked for a heartbeat. It was very light but it was there. "She still has a pulse!" he yelled and looked up at the anxious rest of the team.

"One down, four to go!" The nighlock yelled out as he disappeared through a crack to the netherworld.

"We have to get her home. We have to get her to Ji!" Jayden yelled. He took out his samuraizer and drew a symbol that teleported them back to the Shiba front yard. Jayden picked Emily up into his arms and rushed into the house. He burst through the front doors and went straight to the recovery room. Emily was weaving in and out consciousness, letting out little cries of pain. "JI!" Jayden called out as he put Emily down on the bed, not letting go of her hand. She squirmed around in pain. Jayden hated this. He hated himself for what happened.

Mentor rushed in and to Emily's side. "What happened?"

"She took a hit for him," Mike scolded, pointing to Jayden, he was obviously mad. Jayden just closed his eyes. He had nothing to say. All he could do is let a tear fall out.

"She shouldn't have done that," Mentor replied.

"Damn right she shouldn't have! You shouldn't have let her jump in front of you! You should have seen that hit coming before her!" Mike yelled at Jayden.

"I know I should have!" Jayden turned around. The entire team, even mentor was stunned. They had never seen Jayden show much emotion, much less cry. "Believe me, I would give anything to be in her spot instead, _anything_. She shouldn't have done that and just the thought of anything happening to her-," Jayden cut off and went silent, burying his face in his hands. The team didn't know what to do, this had never happened before. Emily cried out in pain again. Jayden's head shot up and he held her hand in his tighter. He turned back to Ji. "Please, mentor. You have to help Emily, please." He cried out.

"Yes, of course," Ji said as he kneeled down by Emily, "but I'm going to have to ask you all to leave." The rangers understood and headed for the door but Jayden didn't move an inch. "Jayden?"

He looked up at mentor, "I'm not leaving her." Jayden's face made it very clear that he had no intention of moving.

"Very well then," Ji replied and ushered the rest of the rangers out into the hallway.

"I hope she's okay," Mia prayed and laid her head on Kevin's shoulder. Mike looked around, not knowing what to do.

* * *

For the next hour and a half they heard Ji drawing healing symbols and putting on bandages but most of all they heard Emily's screaming. She had been hurt severely and every time she was moved, pain shot up through her body. The cries got worse and worse as more time passed. Jayden finally caved in. He couldn't see Emily in this much pain and knowing it was his fault made it worse. He was the one that had caused all of this so he could guess that he'd be that last that should be by her side. He didn't deserve to be. He got up and left the room. He brushed past the team in the hall and into his room.

"I've never seen Jayden like this before. So… emotional," Kevin confessed.

"That would be the magic of Emily," Mike whispered.

"What?" Mia asked.

"Emily… he loves her," Mike replied and walked away, leaving Kevin and Mia shocked.

Mike walked through the halls and found himself in front of Jayden's room. Jayden was his friend and knowing him after what Mike had said, he probably hated himself. Mike had to explain, had to apologize, and needed to be there for his friend. He knocked on the door. No reply. Again he knocked but still no reply.

He slowly turned the knob and called out, "Jayden?" He walked in to see Jayden with his head buried in his hands, sitting on the floor, his back leaning against his bed. Jayden said nothing, he didn't move. Mike crossed the room and sat down against the bed, next to him. "Bro?" Jayden slowly looked up at Mike.

"I'm so sorry Mike. I know you care about Emily and I never meant for her to get hurt. I just-," Jayden began.

"It's not your fault, Jayden." Mike made that very clear. "I'm sorry for what I said earlier. I shouldn't have. I know you would have done anything you could've to save her."

"But it wasn't enough. I can't- I can't stand to see her like that… in so much pain," Jayden wimped out.

"Me neither but Emily's strong. She _will_ pull through like she always does," Mike assured him. Jayden looked at Mike again. He deserved to know the truth. He had to know about him and Emily. Emily needed Mike in a time like this so if Mike was going to be mad at someone about the relationship, it should be Jayden.

"Mike, you need to know I…"

"Love Emily?" Mike finished. Jayden's head turned a bit in confusion. "I know you love her, Jayden." Jayden didn't understand. How did Mike know? And why wasn't he mad? "I've seen the way you look at her sometimes when you think she's not looking. I don't even think you realized you were falling in love. Around her you just become a different person. You're free, You're happy. I noticed that but none of it made sense until tonight. The way you reacted after she got hurt and how you refused to leave her. Jayden, I've never seen you sad before but tonight… you cried and it was for Emily. It was because you love Emily." It hurt Mike so much to say all of it but he had to. Mike loved Emily too but there was only one guy for her and that was Jayden. The least he could do as a friend was help them.

"But Mike, I know you care for Emily too. As your friend, I don't want to hurt you," Jayden began.

"I do like her but she's with you and I'm going to respect that," Mike replied. A moment of silence passed between them.

"Thank you," Jayden finally said with gratitude and went off into his thoughts. Could what Mike had said be true? Did Jayden really love Emily? He knew he had strong feeling for her but love? Realization hit him and Jayden let out a puff and a smile. "I do love her."


	17. Recovery & Roses

Emily looked out her window. A week had passed since the masquerade ball. Her wounds had been treated and she was almost back to full power. Emily heard grunts from outside. The other rangers were practicing. She hadn't seen them since the ball. Mentor made it very clear that no one is to see her until she was fully recovered. He didn't want them distracted from training or her distracted from resting. She had heard mentor when he gave the announcement and she heard the complaints but the loudest to be heard was most definitely Jayden's. He wouldn't abide by the rule but mentor pulled out the samurai code of conduct and Jayden had no choice but to agree to it. _Jayden_, Emily thought. She missed him so much. It felt as if it had been an eternity since she'd seen him. She's only catch glimpses of him when the rangers were sparring and got to the edge of the base, in sight of her window.

Emily slowly got out of her bed. It didn't hurt anymore to, most of the pain had now subsided. She walked over to her window to get a better view of the rangers. Mike and Kevin were at the center sparring while the others watched. Mia and Antonio stood next to each other, adding in bits of commentary here and there while Jayden stood alone further away, as usual, silently observing the two. Emily stared at him, taking in every part of him.

As if he felt a gaze on him, he looked around and found Emily at her window. His eyes went wide, then back to calm. He hadn't seen her in a week and hated the distance. Jayden sent her one of his rare, genuine smiles, happy to see her, happy she was okay. Emily did the same, her smile radiating… beautiful. Jayden mouthed "I miss you." Emily just smiled and took out her samuraizer. She drew a symbol and motioned for him to turn around. As he did so, he saw a beautiful, red rose spring to life from the grass. He went over and picked it up. Jayden looked back up at Emily and she mouthed "I miss you too". He let out a grin.

"Woah, that's so weird!" He heard Mia say. "Roses don't usually grow here, especially not in the middle of our lawn," Mia thought out loud. The rest of the group then gathered around Jayden. Emily smiled. He had some explaining to do, and with that she went back and sat on her bed. Even if it had been only a few seconds of just seeing Jayden, Emily cherished them. He made her happier than she can ever remember. She had to see him again. She had to talk to him. She got up and went towards the door, to convince Mentor she was recovered.

_Thump._ A crash came from behind her. Emily gasped and turned around. Her window was open and at its foot, a cute red ranger.

"Jayden?" She giggled.

"Ow," he responded. She went over to him.

"Did you just climb through my window?" Emily asked, still giggling, and helped him up.

"I had to see you," Jayden replied and put his hand on her cheek. He pulled her into a deep kiss.

When they finally broke apart, Emily looked up at him and said, "You can't be here." She could hear the grunts from the other rangers as they practiced. "You're supposed to be training."

Jayden just grinned at her. "I'd rather be here, with you." As he went in for another kiss, Emily pulled away, leaving him a bit hurt.

"But you can't." Emily wished more than anything that Jayden would stay with her but he was a samurai he need to be training with the team. "I want you to stay, Jayden, so bad but you're the red samurai ranger and I won't be a distraction to your training." Jayden took a step so once again, they were only centimeters apart.

"A pretty girl once told me 'Love is not a distraction. Once you find it, it will consume you and all you'll feel is a warm, jittery feeling when you're with that special someone'. I then proceeded to promise this beautiful girl that when I found it, I'd never let it go, not even for training because she told me it only came once in a lifetime," Jayden said. Emily remembered those words, she had said them the first night in the car when Jayden had taken her to see Serena. "Well I found that love, Emily and I never plan on letting you go." With that he pulled her into a strong embrace. Emily let herself sink into him.

"Why are you so perfect?" she asked. He laughed and pulled away so he could look at her. "I love you," she whispered.

"I love you too," he replied and kissed her.

"Emily?" They heard Mentor yell from down the hall. They quickly broke apart and Emily ushered for Jayden to hide. They heard mentor just outside the door. Jayden squeezed himself inside Emily's closet and closed the doors just as Mentor opened them. Emily turned around and tried to act as casual as possible.

"What's wrong, Mentor?" Emily asked.

"I can't seem to find Jayden anywhere. You haven't seen him, have you?" Ji asked accusingly, looking around her room very intently.

"No, I haven't but I'd like to see him and the rest of the team, if you'd just let me leave this room," Emily pleaded. Mentor finally gave up on searching the room and focused back on Emily.

"How do you feel?" He asked.

"I feel fine, Mentor." Ji sighed.

"Very well then. The rule's lifted," Mentor said and left. As the door closed, both Emily and Jayden started laughing. Jayden came out of the closet and put his arms around Emily.

"Smooth," he laughed. Emily just smiled and kissed his cheek.


	18. Nightmares

"_She's dead," the doctor announced. "Serena's dead." It echoed over and over again, haunting her. "She gone." Emily screamed as hard as she could._

Jayden woke up in the middle of the night to an ear-splitting scream. It took him less than a second to recognize it as Emily's. Jayden shot out of his room and ran to Emily's room, panic engulfing him. He got there to find the rest of the team running into her room. Jayden darted in. Emily was thrashing in her bed, eyes closed. She was having a nightmare. Jayden ran to her side.

"Emily!" he yelled shaking her.

"No! Please, no!" Emily screamed. She had tears flowing out of her still closed eyes. Jayden's heart beat fast.

"What's happening to her?" Mike shouted.

"Emily!" Jayden yelled again, shaking her a bit harder. Emily's eyes flew open and she gasped. Emily looked around, frightened. She was in her bed, with the team surrounding her. It was a nightmare. Her eyes searched and found Jayden next to her.

"Jayden, we have to go," she started but choked up. Tears were running down her face like a waterfall. "Something's wrong," Emily cried out. Jayden understood she was talking about Serena and realized what her nightmare must have been about. He looked to mentor for permission to go and mentor nodded.

"See who? What's going on?" Mia asked the question everyone was thinking.

"No time to explain," Jayden dismissed her question and helped Emily out of her bed. Mentor grabbed some clothes from Emily's closet and handed them to her to change. He then herded everyone out of the room.

"Someone tell me what's happening!" Mike shouted as he looked from mentor to Jayden. They stayed silent. "What happened to not keeping secrets? What are you guys hiding?" Mike was frustrated.

"Just stay here. We'll be back," Jayden said sternly. Emily ran out of the room then. Mike caught her arm. "Em," he said desperately. Emily looked at him, guilt flooding her. She wanted to tell him explain everything but she didn't have time. She needed to get to the hospital. She needed to know Serena was okay. That was the only priority in her mind right now.

"I'm sorry," she whispered and headed to the front door with Jayden right behind her. They ran out, leaving a confused team. They all turned to Ji.

"Mentor, what is going on?" Mia pleaded him to tell her.

"I'm sorry Mia, but I cannot tell you. That is for Emily to do. When they get back, I'm sure she will explain," mentor replied.

"No, that's crap. I tired of you three keeping secrets from us," Mike raised his voice.

"Mike, Emily is struggling. She needs time and you have to respect that," Ji said calmly.

"Struggling with what?" Mike asked. Ji stayed silent. Mike let out a deep breath. "Fine. If you won't tell me, I'll figure it out myself." Mike went to the front door but Kevin blocked his path.

"Jayden is our friend but he is also our leader and he told us to stay here," Kevin snapped.

"Do you even care that you're being bluntly lied to?" He turned to Mia and Antonio.

"Jayden is our leader. We have to respect his demand," Antonio responded. Mike looked at Mia. He knew she wanted to find out too.

"Well I'm going. Anyone else that's tired of being lied to can join," Mike said and pushed Kevin out of the way. Mia hesitated but followed him. They got out just in time to see one of the cars leaving the driveway. They rushed to the garage to follow them.


End file.
